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Bexley
The London Borough of Bexley is an English (England) local government area (London borough) in the south-east of the area administered by the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority - ie London. In the context of being part of Greater London for local government purposes, it is classed as being in Outer London. Geographically and postally, the area administered by the London Borough of Bexley is in Kent. The London Borough of Bexley is twinned with Evry in France and with Arnsberg in Germany.
History
The London Borough of Bexley Council was formed in 1965 out of the areas previously administered by the Bexley Municipal Borough Council, the Erith Municipal Borough Council, the Crayford Urban District Council and half of the area covered by Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District Council (the other half going to the new London Borough of Bromley). The Council prefers to style itself "Bexley London Borough" to maintain the link with its predecessor, Bexley Municipal Borough.
The town of Bexley, Ohio, United States was named at the suggestion of an early resident, Mr. Kilbourne, in honour of his family's roots in Bexley, England. (Bexley, Ohio, is a suburb of the city of Columbus, the state capital of Ohio.)
Open Spaces
Although located at the edge of the London metropolis, the London Borough of Bexley includes much open land. The ring of high ground that surrounds South London comes to an end in the Borough. The prominent Shooters Hill, on the boundary with the London Borough of Greenwich, is a part of that high ground, which then sweeps from Welling, at its eastern base, to Belvedere. The land falls away to the north of the high ground, down to the River Thames.
At Belvedere, the land drops down to the old port of Erith and is constrained and bounded in the east by the River Cray. This high land was mostly heathland, lying either side of the old Roman road (Watling Street) between Crayford and Welling. To the north was the Thames and Erith, to the south the Rivers Cray and Shuttle and Bexley. The 19th Century saw this vast area covered in housing, but small pockets of green remain: Lying to the west of Erith and Lower Belvedere, there are still the ruins of Lesnes Abbey surrounded by woodland.
The high ground immediately to the south-east of the old Abbey was called Lessness Heath. The area immediately to the north and west of the old Abbey is known as Abbey Wood, taking its name from the extensive woodland that once belonged to the Abbey. A small amount of public open space remains in Northumberland Heath, an area of the high ground to the south of Erith. The flanks of Shooters Hill remain heavily wooded (Oxleas Wood and Falcon Wood) and there is a working farm on the eastern and north-eastern sides. Bexley Heath (name changed to Bexleyheath by the railway company a few years after the station was opened) is completely covered in housing and now forms the main shopping centre, as well as as the administrative centre, of the London Borough of Bexley. Danson Park, in Welling, and Hall Place Gardens near Bexley provide public open spaces. Renovated Danson House is now open to the public. To the south, the River Cray flows into the Borough flanked by Foots Cray Meadows, and it then continues northwards past Hall Place to Crayford, exiting the Borough to join the River Darent north of Dartford before it in turn flows into the River Thames.
Districts
It includes the following areas:
- Albany Park
- Barnehurst
- Barnes Cray
- Belvedere
- Bexley, sometimes called "Old Bexley" or "Bexley Village"
- Bexleyheath, formerly spelled "Bexley Heath"
- Blackfen
- Blendon
- Bostall
- Bridgen
- Coldblow
- Crayford
- Crook Log
- Crossness
- East Wickham
- Erith
- Falconwood
- Foots Cray
- Lamorbey
- Lessness Heath
- Longlands
- May Place
- North Cray
- North End
- Northumberland Heath
- Old Bexley, the ancient village centre
- Slade Green
- Upper Belvedere
- Upton
- Welling
- West Heath
As well as parts of
- Abbey Wood (Some of it is in the London Borough of Greenwich)
- Sidcup (Some of it is in the London Borough of Greenwich)
- Thamesmead (Some of it is in the London Borough of Greenwich)
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