Bexleyheath

Bexleyheath is in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Dartford.  The church is named Christ Church with original parish registers commencing as of 1842.

Bexleyheath is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1866 from the mother parish of Bexley, 12 miles from London, 6 south-east from Woolwich, 3 west from Dartford and a mile and a half north from Bexley, and is situated on each side of the road from London to Dover. For civil purposes it is within the parish of Bexley and is in the Western division of the county, lathe of Sutton-at-Home, Ruxley hundred, Dartford union and county court district, East Dartford rural deanery, Maidstone archdeaconry and Canterbury diocese.

The district is lighted with gas by the West Kent Gas Company and supplied with water by the Kent Waterworks Co. Bexleyheath and Welling, forming the Christ Church Ward, return six members to the Bexley Local Board; a Rural Board has also been established here.

Christ Church is a Gothic building, erected in 1877 and consists only of chancel, nave and aisles; the south aisle contains six stained windows, presented by John Edensor exq. the church has 672 sittings of which half are free; the cost of the presednt time (1882) has exceeded £9,000.

The living is a vicarage, yearly value £350, in the gift of Earl Sydney and held by the Rev. George Graham M.A. of Corpus Christi college, Cambridge. Here are Baptists, Wesleyan and Congregational chapels and a society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge, with a very good library.

Cattle markets are held on the second and last Wednesday of every month.

A hall was built in 1870, at a cost of about £2,000, for concerts, public meetings and bazaars; it is a Gothic brick building, with a handsomely decorated concert room, is capable of seating 500; it has in addition three large rooms, it is owned by a limited liability company. The Foresters have an asylum here, erected in 1872, for 16 pensioners, who are allowed 6s. per week, with free house and firing.

The principal landowners are Maitland Dashwood, esq. and A. W. Bean, esq. Danson Park is a seat built by Sir Robert Taylor, standing in grounds laid out by "Capability" Brown; and is the residence of A. W. Bean, Esq., J.P.; it has an extensive and well-wooded park, containing a large lake. The soil is gravel and sand; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are cereals of all kinds and much fruit.

The area is 2,500 acres. The population of Bexleyheath, including the south side of Welling, in 1871 was 4,608.

There is a post, money order and telegraph office, with a savings bank and government annuity and insurance offices. It is under the Metropolitan Police Station R Division. There are National schools for boys, girls, and infants as well as Foster's Endowed School.

Welling is a village at the foot of Shooter's Hill, 2 miles north-west from Bexley. The south side is in the parish of Bexleyheath and the north in the parish of East Wickham. Here is an iron church, erected in 1869, by A. W. Bean, Esq. and holding about 230. The Baron de Goldsmid is a large landed proprietor. ¹

¹ E. R. Kelly, M.A., F.S.S., ed..  Kelly's Directory of Kent, 1882, p. 43. (London, England: Kelly & Co., 51, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W. C., 1882).

Bexleyheath Bibliography

-- various. 'Archaeologia Cantiana'. Publisher: Kent, England: Kent Archaeological Society, various dates.  [Note:  The following volumes can be found on archive.org:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (1876), 11, 12, 13 (1880), 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35, vol. 1907 supplement.]

• General references to Bexleyheath: vol. , pp.
• Currently in revision

Page, William, 1861-1934, ed.. 'The Victoria history of the county of Kent'. Publisher: London: Constable (1908).  URL: British History Online

Location of Records

The following list of records is not intended to be exhaustive.  There are many records that are awaiting discovery in archive offices throughout Kent and England.  This list is intended only to set out those records that are available via at least two relatively easy-to-access avenues.  If you have used or discover a record that would be of benefit to other researchers, that is not on this list, please send me an email with the details of the archive - name, address and archival call number.

Census | Church of England | Non-Conformist | Parish chest | Workhouse and Poor Law | Land | Assizes and Sessions | School

Census

Church Records, Church of England

Church Records, Non-Conformist

Parish chest records

Workhouse and Poor Law Records

Land Records

Assizes and Sessions Records
(poor laws, jail terms, oaths, and other municipal and public records)

School Records