All our yesterdays

The Hidden Treasures of Bexley

Have you considered visiting some of the wonderful heritage sites and natural beauty spots in Bexley?

RT/2/3/6 Abbot’s Lodge, Lesnes Abbey 1800

Lesnes Abbey and Woods

Lesnes Abbey was a convent of Augustinian canons founded in 1178 by Richard de Luci, Chief Justiciar to Henry II, as a penance for his part in the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. It flourished for many years but was finally dissolved by Cardinal Wolsey in 1525 and the lands used to endow his planned college at Oxford.

RT/2/4/29 Hall Place 1806

Hall Place & Gardens

Hall Place stands in elegant gardens next to the River Cray. It was built using stone from one of the dissolved monasteries by Sir John Champneys, a former Lord Mayor of London around 1540 and extended by his son, Justinian in about 1570.

A new owner Sir Robert Austen added a Jacobean brick courtyard and tower to the old Tudor mansion in about 1653.

RT/2/4/6 Danson Hill 1794 Danson House

Danson is a Palladian villa built by Sir John Boyd in 1766. The architect was Sir Robert Taylor. The surrounding park and lake were designed by Nathaniel Richmond. Restored by English Heritage the house is now home to Bexley Registry Office.

Crossness Pumping Station

The Great Stink of London of 1858 led to the building of a new sewer system for the whole of London. The Crossness Pumping Station designed by Sir Joseph Bazelgette as the southern outfall of these sewers was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1865. Red House

William Morris founder of the arts and crafts movement designed the Red House in Bexleyheath as a home for himself and his family in the 1860s. It includes furniture by Morris himself and Philip Webb as well as paintings by Edward BurneJones. The exquisite house and its delightful gardens are owned by the National Trust.

PHLS/121/50 Red House, Bexleyheath

Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre

Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre holds the archival material for the borough of Bexley. You can visit the centre to research the history of your family, house, street, district, famous Bexley people, landmarks and events, or for help working on a school or college project.

You can carry out an advanced search of the library catalogue and look for our books, pamphlets and search the newspaper index.

We also have other online catalogues. Find out more www.bexley.gov.uk/archivesand-local-history