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Coordinates: 51°27'32?N 0°08'18?E? / ?51.4589, 0.1384
Bexleyheath, formerly known as "Bexley New Town", part of the London Borough of Bexley in South East London, consists of a suburban development located 12 miles (19.3 km) east-south-east of Charing Cross.
[edit] Shopping and leisure
The modern town area of today features a bingo-hall, Cineworld cinema hotel, magistrates' court, reference-library, six-a-side football centre and ten-pin bowling alley (Ten Pin) among the more usual retail outlets provided to upgrade conditions for shoppers and to respond to the competition from the Bluewater Shopping Centre in nearby Greenhithe, Kent.
Regeneration work in 2007-08 on the Mall shopping centre increased its size slightly and gave the centre a more modern look.
[edit] History
As recently as 200 years ago, Bexley Heath comprised an area of scrub-land with few buildings (Bexley Heath windmill stood at the corner of Erith Road and Mayplace Road). The heath bordered Watling Street, the ancient Roman road between London and Canterbury. In 1766 Sir John Boyd had Danson House built in parkland (now Danson Park between Bexleyheath and Welling).
In 1814 the land to the north of Bexley that would become Bexleyheath became subject to an Enclosure Act. In 1859 architect Philip Webb designed Red House for the artist, reforming designer and socialist William Morris on the western edge of the heath, in the hamlet of Upton — before Upton became largely developed as a London suburb. Red House forms an early essay in a romantically-massed, non-historical, brick-and-tile domestic vernacular style; it has diverse windows and an extravagant stairway. The National Trust acquired the house in 2003.
Bexleyheath's parish church, Christ Church, dates from 1841; and the parish of Bexleyheath from 1866; the building of the current church finished in 1877.
Alfred Bean, railway-engineer and one-time owner of Danson House, furthered the development of Bexleyheath as a London suburb by championing the Bexleyheath Line in the 1880s to support the growth of the estates around Danson Park. The clock-tower at the centre of the modern shopping area, built in 1912, commemorates the coronation of King George V.
In the late 1970s the London Borough of Bexley built its headquarters, the Civic Offices, in Bexleyheath.
[edit] Notable residents
- Baroness Amos attended Bexley Technical High School for Girls, Townley Road, Bexleyheath, where she became the first black deputy-Head Girl (Head Girl: Lesley Hodgkiss).
- Steve Backley, javelin-champion, attended Hurst Primary School and then Beths Grammar School
- Jimmy Bullard, Premiership football player, currently at Fulham FC
- Kate Bush, the Wuthering Heights singer-songwriter, born in Bexleyheath
- Bernie Ecclestone attended Bexleyheath School
- Graham Kersey, Surrey county cricketer, also attended Beths Grammar School
- Roger Moore previously lived in Bexleyheath, in Danson Road
- Liam Ridgewell, Birmingham City F.C. footballer, born and raised in Bexleyheath
- Delia Smith, television-chef, attended Bexleyheath School
- Linda Smith, stand-up comic and star of Radio 4 and BBC2, attended Bexleyheath School
- Andy Townsend, professional footballer, attended Bexleyheath School
[edit] Places of worship
- Bethany Hall, Chapel Road, Bexleyheath
- Bexleyheath Community Church, Lyndhurst Chapel, Lyndhurst Road, Barnehurst, DA7 6DL
- Bexleyheath United Reformed Church, Geddes Place
- Christ Church (Church of England), Broadway
- Bexleyheath Methodist Church, Broadway
- Trinity Baptist Church, Broadway
- St John Vianney Roman Catholic Church, Heathfield Road
- St Peters (Church of England), Pickford Lane
- St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church, Long Lane
- The Salvation Army, Lion Road
- Bexley Christian Life Centre (Pentecostal), Rowan Road
- Pantiles Methodist Church, Hurlingham Road
- Grace Baptist Church, Albion Road
[edit] Transport and locale
[edit] Nearest places
Two railway stations serve Bexleyheath: Bexleyheath Station and Barnehurst Station, both located on the Bexleyheath line. Trains go to London Charing Cross or London Victoria to the west, and to Dartford to the east. Some trains in peak hours go to Slade Green Station.
[edit] Nearest railway-stations
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |
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