The Borough is already rich in Culture. As well as the artforms described in section 2, Culture is all the aspects of life in which residents can express themselves including an evening out, a hobby, a livelihood or a way of life. Bexley is proud to have nationally significant heritage sites providing residents and visitors with first class historical attractions. This cultural strategy refers to the places, organisations and businesses that sustain all these experiences and provide the catalyst for further cultural growth with examples described below.

Arts organisations

Bexley has arts organisations supporting theatre, music, craft and visual arts. Important organisations include:

• TACO - a publisher, exhibition space and arts producer in South Thamesmead running creative clubs for primary and nursery aged children
• The Exchange, a mixed-use arts venue and creative workspace in a repurposed Victorian library in Erith:
  • Ruined Theatre, a theatre company making theatre with and for young people in Abbey Wood
  • Three Rivers, an arts agency with core-funding from Arts Council England making arts experiences with communities across the Borough
  • The Lakeside Centre in Thamesmead, a community space owned and managed by The Bow Arts Trust which provides 44 workspaces for local artists, a community cafe and centre for creative activity with local people
  • Gallery 32, a visual arts producer who have curated four editions of a sculpture park in Bexley since 2021
  • The Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre in Crayford, a home for amateur dramatics for all ages

Creative industries

The Greater London Authority has mapped clusters of businesses in the screen and fashion sectors in the Borough and identified several sites in Belvedere and Erith with the potential to locate digital production facilities. The borough is included in several multi-stakeholder initiatives to grow creative businesses and activities in the Thames Estuary.

Historic Houses

Bexley has 150 listed buildings and structures and four nationally significant Grade 1 listed buildings open to the public: Danson House, Hall Place (both managed by the Council), Crossness Pumping Station (managed by Crossness Engines Trust), The Red House (managed by The National Trust). London Borough of Bexley also manages Lesnes Abbey, a ruined Abbey, park and ancient woodland adjacent to Thamesmead in the north of the Borough. 

Performing Arts Education

In Bird College and Rose Bruford College (both in Sidcup) Bexley has two of London’s leading providers of performing arts education. Rose Bruford, a Higher Education Institution awarding its own degrees, is a world-leading centre for innovation in theatrical performance and production. Rose Bruford alumni played leading roles in Adolescence and Baby Reindeer - two of the most popular and innovative TV dramas of 2025. 

Bird College, also in Sidcup, provides degrees in dance, musical theatre and production - over the last thirty years, hundreds of its graduates have gone on to careers in the West End. In Thamesmead the London College of Performing Arts provides BTEC courses in acting, dance and musical theatre to 16-18 years old. Informally, across the borough, numerous dance and theatre clubs provide opportunities to young people including: Theatre Train (Bexley), Liz Burville (Bexley), Theatre Box (Erith/Bexleyheath/Sidcup), Emily Butler (Crayford) Jigsaw (Bexleyheath), Thamesmead School of Dance, Centre Stage Theatre Academy (Sidcup). Each year the Bexleyheath Business Improvement District and Theatre Box organise ‘Bexley’s Got Talent’ - an annual celebration of young talent from across Bexley.

Pubs and Community Venues

The borough has close to 100 pubs many of which put on live music, comedy and other performances. Local theatre groups make use of theatres in schools and colleges. The borough has three venues in regular use for community theatre: Erith Playhouse, and Edward Alderton Theatre (Bexleyheath) and Huxtable Hall at St Martin’s Church (Barnehurst). Three Rivers delivers its year-round cultural programme in community venues across the borough, including foodbanks, football clubs and community centres. The Exchange supports local residents and groups to deliver cultural events within their building.

Libraries

The borough has twelve libraries covering all communities across the Borough. In 2024-25 the libraries collectively had over 800,000 visits. The Council runs six and further six are run by charities and volunteers, with support from the Council. New libraries were re-opened in Sidcup (2022) and Thamesmead (2023). In Sidcup the library is co-located with a cinema in a building known as ‘The Storyteller’, in Thamesmead the library is co-located with community spaces]in a building known as ‘The Nest’. The Borough has a libraries strategy, adopted in 2025 which positions them as vital to health and wellbeing outcomes, widening digital access, improving literacy, and, as places where local people can experience and participate in culture and creativity.

Local History Societies

Bexley has a thriving network of local history societies providing events, publications, maps and services to local people researching their heritage and family history. These include the Lamorbey and Sidcup Local History Society, Bexley Civic Society, Thamesmead Community Archive and Crayford Manor House Historical Society.

Schools working with Music and The Arts

15 schools in the Borough are in Arts Council England’s ‘Artsmark’ programme which accredits arts provision in schools. The task of bringing cultural opportunities into schools was supported by a Local Cultural Education Partnership between 2021-23. Across the borough, schools bilaterally maintain relationships with artists, music groups and arts organisations to support their arts provision in schools