a large town, consisting of two parishes, in the hundred of Blackheath, in the county of Kent, but with a small part of one of the parishes in the county of Surrey. It is divided into Upper and Lower Deptford by the Ravensbourne, which falls here into the Thames. There is here a royal dockyard for the construction and repair of ships of war, which was originally founded in the reign of Henry VIII. There is also the storehouse called the Red House, for providing victuals for the navy. The Trinity House, for the general regulation of the pilots' buoys, beacons, and lighthouses, is another of the establishments of this town. There are also several private dockyards for the building of merchant vessels, together with numerous block, sail, and mast makers. There are two charitable foundations for decayed masters of vessels and for pilots, and for the widows of both, which are well endowed and regulated by the elder brethren of the Trinity House. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 17,548, in 1811 to 19,833, in 1821 to 19,862, and in 1831 to 19,795. Deptford is only four miles from London.