History and Culture

Bexley's Heritage - A Brief History

Market Place Bexley Heath It is difficult, when looking at the Bexley Borough of today with its almost wholly urban appearance and its extensive communications, to realise that little more than a century ago the area was almost entirely open country and surprisingly remote country at that. A map of the 1850s graphically shows this. The line of Watling Street then crossed miles of open farmland with Crayford, Bexley New Town (now Bexleyheath) and Welling as very small roadside villages. To the south a road meandered from Crayford through a pleasant farming countryside with Bexley and Foots Cray as villages with Sidcup but a group of cottages almost amid the fields. To the north the area's one main line of communication (apart from the stage coaches that bowled along Watling Street to and from Dover) was found - the newly built North Kent Railway which ran along the low land beside the wastes of Erith Marshes. Erith itself was growing then as a small town, but apart from the hamlet of 'Belvedere', only scattered groups of cottages were signs of habitation in a wide open countryside.

Thus, right through almost until the present century, the story of this area was one of a rural existence. The name Bexley, which means the 'clearing in the box wood', first turned up in records in 814 when King Kenulph, the King of the Mercians, granted lands at Bexley to Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury. However, there is evidence that the area was a place of habitation long before that time. Tools and other artifacts have been found in many places in the Borough dating from the old and new Stone Ages, the Bronze and Iron Ages, and from Roman times. In 1973, a local resident unearthed a fine Roman Burial in his garden.

The coming of the railways, largely in the latter years of the 19th century, saw the beginnings of the Bexley of today and the separate towns and villages, which had seen some development at the close of the 18th century, began to grow. It was not, however, until the 1920s and '30s that communities began to cover this corner of what was then North West Kent. The electrification of the railways added impetus to this steady development.

Quite a number of famous people have been associated with the Borough over the years. Notable among them were Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel who lived at May Place, Crayford, during the 18th century and Sir Hiram Maxim, who gave his name to the automatic machine gun and who, at Crayford in 1894, invented what is thought to have been the first heavier than air machine to get off the ground successfully. Also notable were Sir Robert Taylor, the architect of the Bank of England, who designed Danson Mansion for John Boyd, a wealthy London merchant; and William Morris, the Victorian artist, poet and designer, who built Red House at Bexleyheath. In addition, Foots Cray Meadows were once the park of Foots Cray Place, an 18th century Palladian mansion that was burnt down in 1949. It served as a splendid home for many famous people, the most distinguished of whom was Nicholas Vansittart who became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1812. In more recent times, the Borough has been closely linked with the former Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Edward Heath, MBE, MP. As a schoolboy, he spent three years in Crayford and returned later to Bexley, which became his first Parliamentary constituency, where he was the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup.

Reminders of the Past Pride of place among the surviving historic buildings in the Borough must go to Hall Place at Bexley, not only because it is a well preserved house but also because its beautiful gardens, carefully looked after by the Borough Council, are a joyful splash of colour at any time of the year. The northern part of the present house (and others had stood here before it) was built in 1540 by Sir John Champneys, a merchant and Lord Mayor of London. About a century later, (ie 1650), Robert Austen acquired the property and added a new block of dark red brick on the south side. The Austens also added the fine wrought iron gates that face onto Bourne Road. The house, which is managed for the Council by Bexley Heritage Trust includes museum and interpretation galleries, a Tourist Information Centre and Shop and is open to the public, along with the gardens and conservatory.

Also 'open to view' are the ruins of Lesness Abbey, a 12th century foundation on the low land in the north of the area between Belvedere and Abbey Wood. The Augustinians occupied the abbey from 1178 until its suppression by Cardinal Wolsey in 1524. The buildings were then pulled down and the foundations that are now visible were only excavated during the present century. These foundations, amid a large area of grassland, well illustrate the layout of a monastic community.

Two other houses of interest are Danson Mansion and the Red House both at Bexleyheath. The first of these, in Danson Park, dates from 1759 to 1762 and was set in a park landscaped by the famous Capability Brown in 1761, providing the large trees and the lake that we see today. The Red House, aptly enough in Red House Lane, Bexleyheath, was built in 1860 by William Morris. The plans for it were drawn up by Philip Webb but they also reflected Morris's own ideas on medieval architecture and craftsmanship. Morris's friend, Rossetti, described the Red House as being "More a poem than a house - but an admirable place to live in too". Here Morris lived and entertained his many friends, including Rossetti and Burne-Jones. The house, in which some original furniture and decor has been preserved, is still in private ownership. The locality around it, with old cottages, is now a conservation area.

Sidcup has several houses of architectural interest. Facing the green is The Manor House, a pleasing 18th century building and south of the green, also basically of the 18th century, is Sidcup Place, said to have been built in imitation of a fort in 1743. In Frognal Avenue is Frognal House, a large and quite grand early 18th century house standing in the grounds of Queen Mary's Hospital. In the ancient hamlet of Halfway Street, a little to the north of Sidcup, is Lamorbey House, a building whose roots go back to the 16th century but which has been altered and restored several times since then.

St Paulinus Church Ancient churches, mostly in a good state of preservation, are scattered across the Borough. Most notable is the church of St Paulinus, Crayford, a building that is partly of the 12th century and partly of the Perpendicular period. There is quite an array of monuments and memorial tablets here, including a very impressive hanging monument to Sir Cloudesley Shovel's widow, Elizabeth, who died in 1732. The church of St John the Baptist, Erith, dates from the 12th century although it was rather drastically restored in 1877. It does, however, still retain Norman work and, like Crayford church, also houses a group of monuments. Of the 13th century is St Mary's, Bexley, also restored in the 19th century but still keeping its typically Kentish shingled spire. Of interest here is a very small brass (only 13 inches long) of Thomas Sparrow who died in 1513. Newer and grander is Christ Church, Bexleyheath, a building designed by William Knight and completed in 1877. Although lacking a tower, the church is of noble and lofty proportions in the early French Gothic style, with an apse at the east end that also shows a continental influence.

Five Arches These buildings tell something of the story of Bexley, but a wander through the streets of some of the older parts of the Borough, the centres of the original villages, will show other older houses, churches, even almshouses, schools and public houses that date from various states in the development of the area. Bexley Village itself is especially worthy of exploration by those who enjoy architectural styles and can relate the buildings to the growth of the area.

Further information on the history of the Borough is available from the Local Studies and Archive Centre or from the many publications of Bexley Libraries and Cutural Services.