Places to Visit in
Bexley
A Borough of Many Surprises
Please note: where possible, it is advisable to telephone
before you make a visit to check opening times and admission charges.
(Numbers refer to key in large-scale
map (87k))
![[Hall Place]](images/hallpl.jpg)
1. Hall Place and Gardens
Bourne Road, Bexley, DA5 1PQ.
A fine Grade I listed country house built in 1540 for Sir John Champney, a former Lord Mayor of London, and extended in the 17 th century. Now managed by Bexley Heritage Trust on behalf of Bexley Council. Rooms including the magnificent panelled Great Hall with Minstrels’ Gallery are open to the public throughout the year, with free admission (special events and activities usually have a charge).
The house is set in 62 hectares of beautiful award winning gardens on the banks of the River Cray, with rose gardens, topiary lawn and working nursery.
Hall Place houses the Bexley Museum Collection, some of which is on display throughout the house, and presents a varied programme of exhibitions throughout the year. There is a shop stocking gifts, cards and handmade crafts. The house is also the venue for events such as concerts, lectures and private functions. The Great Hall is licensed for Civil Wedding ceremonies. Group guided tours can be pre-booked year round.
Hall Place and Gardens are FREE to visit, donations are welcomed.
Opening times:
Summer (April – October): Open daily 10am – 5pm
Winter (November – March): Tuesday - Saturday 10am – 4.15pm Closed Sunday & Monday
Please note that the shop has seasonal opening hours and house opening times may vary for special events, please call 01322 621238 for more details.
For more information about Hall Place and Gardens or Bexley Heritage Trust please contact 01322 356839.
See also Parks and Gardens and Events.
2. Sidcup Place
Chislehurst Road, Sidcup (B4). The house was built in 1743 in the shape of
a `star fort' laid out to align with the four points of the compass. The grounds
are open all year round and include a pitch and putt course, tennis courts and
a secluded walled garden.
3. Erith Library
Walnut Tree Road, Erith. 01322 336582. A local museum housed in a Grade II
listed building. The museum charts the history of Erith and the development of
its maritime and aviation industries. Open (afternoons only) Monday, Wednesday
and Saturday.
![[Lesnes Abbey]](images/lesabbey.jpg) 4. Lesnes Abbey
Lesnes Abbey Woods. The abbey was founded in 1178 by Richard de Lucy, chief
justiciar (legal advisor) to Henry II, as an act of penance for his involvement
in events leading to the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170. The abbey
was abandoned in 1525 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries which was ordered
by Henry VIII's minister Cardinal Wolsley. It fell into disrepair. However, the
foundations and some ruined sections of wall still survive today and show clearly
the layout of an Augustinian monastery. Open daily. See also Parks
and Gardens.
5. Red House
![[Red House]](images/redhouse.jpg) 13, Red House Lane, Bexleyheath, Kent, DA6 8JF.
Red House was built in 1860 for the Victorian artist, designer
and poet William Morris.
The architect, Philip Webb, designed
the house in the Victorian Gothic style to reflect Morris' love
of things medieval. Morris moved into the house after his marriage
to Jane Burden and it was to become the couple's home for five years.
The artist and friend of Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, praised
the house as `a most noble work in every way, and more a poem than
a house, but an admirable place to live in too'.
The Trust has opened Red House soon after its acquisition in 2003
so that visitors can see the property as it was when first acquired,
and follow its journey as research reveals the house and garden
which Morris and Webb originally created.
Inside, the house retains many of the original features and fixed
items of furniture designed by Morris and Webb, as well as wall
paintings and stained glass by Burne-Jones. Originally surrounded
by orchards and countryside, Red House and its garden now provide
an oasis in a suburban environment.
Opening arrangements:
Admission by appointment on a pre-booked guided tour only. Call
the booking office on 020 8304 9878 for details.Open Wednesday to
Sunday. Last tour 45 mins before closing. Closed 24 - 28 December 2006 and 3
January - 14 February 2007.
Admission price:
£6, child £3, family £15. Shop with limited
range of items. Limited pre-booked parking for disabled drivers.
Building: Ground floor fully accessible. First floor accessible by stairs. No lift.
Grounds: Largely accessible. Limited refreshments available in
tea shop (tea and cakes)
Station: Bexleyheath, 15 mins walk.
Road: Off A221 Bexleyheath. Visitors will be advised how to reach
the property when booking No parking on site. Parking is at Danson
Park, (15 mins walk). 90p parking charge at weekends and Bank Holidays.
6. Danson House
Set in Danson Park, this fine Palladian villa was built by Sir John Boyd in 1766 for his second wife Catherine Chapone. Designed by architect Sir Robert Taylor (architect of the Bank of England), the house was built as a suite of rooms for entertaining with the principal floor comprising of the Entrance Hall, Dining Room, Salon and Music Room.
Like many London estates the more recent history of the house is one of steady decline. In 1995 when Danson was the most famous 'building at risk' in London English Heritage stepped in to oversee and fund a ten-year restoration project to save the house from ruin. Bexley Heritage Trust has completed the interior furnishings of the house and is proud to manage Danson, with the support of Bexley Council. Danson House was officially re-opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth in July 2005.
The restored interior is open to the public for the first time in thirty years, with period room displays, exhibitions, an audiovisual presentation and knowledgeable room steward to guide visitors.
General Enquiries please telephone 0208 303 6699
Opening times:
2005 season: Open until the end of October
2006 season – April to the end of October
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays only.
11am – 5pm (Last admission 4.15pm)
Admission: £5 adults, £4.50 concessions, £3.75 English Heritage members.
Wheelchair access to all levels.
Group guided tours by arrangement year round (please contact Janet Hearn-Gillham at Hall Place on 01322 356839)
The principal floor is licensed for Civil Wedding ceremonies (please contact Lynda Weaver at Hall Place on 01322 356839 for a wedding pack)
See also Parks and Gardens.
7. Gothic Bath House
North Cray Road, Bexley
"Built circa 1766, originally in the grounds of Vale Mascal. Cold plunge bath
house in the Gothic style, beside River Cray. Flint with brick edging. Pairs of
cinquefoiled windows to north and south; entrance to west; all beneath labels.
Cruciform gabled roof, with chimney stack at west. Splayed corner butresses. Grade
II*". (Source: Department of the Environment: List of buildings of special architectural
or historic interest in the London Borough of Bexley.)
![[Gothic Bath House]](images/bathouse.jpg)
The busy, single-carriageway part of North Cray Road, just outside Bexley Village,
still follows today its 18th Century path, just above the spring-line along the
east bank of the River Cray. 250 years ago the slopes down to the River were part
of the Vale Mascal Estate, one of a number of wealthy estates in the Cray Valley,
which included Foots Cray Place, North Cray Place, Bourne Place, Hall Place and
older seats such as Woollett Hall and Mount Mascal. Of these only Hall Place survives.
Vale Mascal was built in 1746 on part of the Mount Mascal Estate, stretching
along the Cray from Wollett Hall almost to Bexley Village. The gardens were laid
out professionally, probably between 1760 and 1775, either by Capability Brown,
(who it is known worked at Danson in 1760/61 and at North Cray Place in 1782)
or by one of his disciples.
The ingenuity with which the River was treated shows skill of the highest order.
Lakes were created and cascades and weirs built, developing channels and sub-channels
to give the whole River a braided appearance as it flowed around the islands thus
created. It was on one of these channels that the Bath House was built, its construction
involving a significant amount of hydraulic ability to achieve a satisfactory
inflow and discharge in the gradual gradient of that part of the Cray.
The Bath House was fed, via a sluice gate on an almost level channel, approximately
150 feet downstream from a weir. A further internal sluice gate operated on the
outfall pipe of the Bath which discharged down a slight slope back into the Cray.
This enabled the Bath to be filled to a level of 4 feet and completely drained
when required.
The ownership of the Bath House has changed many times, the last major change
being in 1935 with the division of that part of the Estate into suburban building
plots. Two significant restorations were carried out, by the Revd. Egerton in
the 19th Century and by Robert Cooper in the early 20th Century. The Bath House
suffered major damage in the storm of 16th October 1987. The 1990 restoration
to its original 18th Century appearance was carried out by a local firm, and funded
principally by English Heritage, with contributions from Bexley Council's Heritage
Fund and the present owner's domestic insurers.
For further information on the history of the Gothic Bath House, consult: Archaeologica
Cantiana v.82 (1967) p227-34. Maps. Plans.
The Gothic Bath House is situated in the garden of a private house, and is
not visible from the road. Viewing is strictly by appointment only on Summer Sundays,
by prior arrangement with the owner, Mrs Frances Chu 112, North Cray Road, Bexley,
DA5 3NA (Tel: 01322-554894).
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