Bexley, London Borough of

Bexley, London Borough of, administrative region, London, England. Bexley lies to the south of the River Thames on the eastern edge of Greater London, and has an area of approximately 65 sq km (25 sq mi). The borough was formed under the London Government Act of 1963, by the amalgamation of the metropolitan boroughs of Bexley and Erith with Crayford Urban District and part of Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District. Bexley consists of 23 wards. It is bordered by the boroughs of Greenwich, to the west, and Bromley, to the south, while Dartford and the rest of the county of Kent lie further east. The Roman road of Watling Street cuts diagonally through the borough.

As with other Outer London boroughs, Bexley contains many extensive areas of countryside, parks, and gardens, including Danson Park, Lesnes Abbey Wood, and Foots Cray Meadows alongside the River Cray. It has good road and rail services into central London, and has become a very popular dormitory region for the capital. Although mainly a residential area, within the borough are the industrial centres of Erith, Crayford, Sidcup, and Thamesmead, with engineering, chemical, and paper works and various light industries. Major population centres are at Bexleyheath, Sidcup, and Welling.

Bexley’s history dates from the Stone Age, with tools, artefacts, and underground chambers from the era having been found in the area. Roman settlement, too, is in evidence: Bexleyheath, Crayford, and Welling were all roadside villages on Watling Street (see Roman Britain). It is thought that Bexley was the site of the defeat of the Britons by the Saxons at the Battle of Creccanford in ad 457. Erith was granted a charter in the 7th century. Record is made of Bexley in 814 when the king of Mercia granted lands in the area to the archbishop of Canterbury. Bexley is also mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Crayford’s St Paulinus church dates from the 11th century, while St Mary’s at Bexley dates from the 13th century. Other places of interest in the borough are the ruins of Lesness Abbey, a 12th-century Augustinian house, the 16th-century Hall Place Manor and Gardens, Danson Park, landscaped by Capability Brown in the mid-18th century, and the Red House (1860), the home of William Morris at Bexleyheath. Most development in Bexley occurred from the late 1920s onward, when the agricultural landscape began to be eaten up by much-needed housing. The borough’s population expanded rapidly in the 1930s, owing to a growth in industrial production, and again in the late 1940s as it soaked up some of the population overspill from London.

In 1965 Greater London was created under the jurisdiction of the Greater London Council. This council was abolished in 1986, and each inner and outer borough and the City of London itself had its own governing council as the sole administrative authority from then until 2000. The borough councils consist of councillors elected every four years, who in turn annually elect their presiding official. Councils are responsible for the provision of most local services including education, housing, social services, local planning, roads, refuse collection, recreation, and culture.

On May 4, 2000, the people of London voted in a new London mayor, Ken Livingstone, and 25-strong cross-party assembly, together known as the Greater London Authority. A new mayor will be elected every 4 years, and although he or she has limited budget-raising powers, the position includes responsibility for the police, fire service, health, and public transport. However, the home secretary (a senior government minister) is still ultimately responsible for many areas, including London's Metropolitan Police Service (see Scotland Yard). Population 218,307 (2001).