Editing Crayford (section)

==History==
An [[Iron Age Britain|Iron Age]] settlement existed in the vicinity of the present [[Church of St Paulinus|St&nbsp;Paulinus Church]] between the [[Caesar's invasion of Britain|Julian]] and [[Roman conquest of Britain|Claudian invasions of Britain]], from roughly 30&nbsp;BC to AD&nbsp;40. Roman ruins have been discovered and Crayford is one of several places proposed as the site of [[Noviomagus Cantiacorum]], a place mentioned in the [[Antonine Itinerary]] as being on the Roman equivalent of the later [[Watling Street]]. Crayford is also plausible as the site of the bloody [[battle of Crecganford]] ("Creeks[[river ford|ford]]") in 457 in which Hengist defeated [[Vortimer]] to become the supreme sovereign of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brayley |first1=Edward Wedlake |title=The Beauties of England and Wales; or, Original Delineations Topographical, Historical and Descriptive of Each Country. Vol.VII. |date=1808 |publisher=Thomas Maiden Sherbourn-Lane |location=London |pages=550 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433075909048;view=1up;seq=768 |access-date=9 March 2019 |ref=Hathi Trust Digital Library}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Schofield |first1=John |title=The Building of London: From the Conquest to the Great Fire |date=1999 |publisher=Sutton |isbn=0750921838 |page=21 |edition=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xh0XAQAAIAAJ&q=crayford |access-date=8 August 2018}}</ref> The [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]] written around 400 years later describes how [[Hengist]] and [[Oisc|Æsc]] defeated the "Brettas" at that battle.

Crayford is mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]], which was compiled just prior to 1086, as a settlement within the [[Little and Lesnes Hundred|Hundred of Litlelee]] with a church, three mills, and a relatively large population of 27 regular householders ([[villein]]s) and two [[smallholder]]s. Its overlord was not a private individual or the king but [[Christ Church, Canterbury]].<ref>[http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TQ5177/crayford/ Domesday Map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220131633/http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TQ5177/crayford/ |date=20 February 2015 }} Retrieved 2013-08-23</ref>

As a [[civil parishes in England|(civil/combined) parish]] (before 1920) it included the hamlets of [[North End, Bexley|Northend]], Perry Street and [[Slade Green]] which lie to the north. In 1831, the population of the parish was 2022 people.<ref name=pigots>[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~shebra/pigots_1840_-_crayford,_erith_&c_.htm 'Pigots 1840', on website freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~shebra/pigots_1840] accessed 5 December 2007</ref> For centuries it was strongly associated with brick-making, the printing of silk scarves, ties and calico cloths, and for a short period carpet-making.

[[File:Crayford,_Manor_House_-_geograph.org.uk_-_173749.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Crayford Manor House, reconstructed in 1816]]
[[File:May Place, Crayford.jpg|thumb|1887 photograph of May Place]]
There were two main Manor Houses in the area during the [[Middle Ages]], [[Newbery Manor]] on the site of what is now Crayford Manor House, and Howbury Manor next to Slade Green. Roger Apylton had served Kings [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] and [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] as auditor, and resided at Marshalls Court, Crayford. Late in the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] Henry Partich sold Newbery Manor to Henry Apylton of Marshalls Court, and Apylton built [[May Place]] close by.<ref name=brithist>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol2/pp263-285 British History Online version of Edward Hasted's History of Kent Volume 2] accessed 10 February 2016</ref> [[Hall Place]], which lies alongside the River Cray, was built for [[Lord Mayor of the City of London]], [[John Champneys|Sir John Champneis]], in around 1537. There was also an Iron Mill, which was later replaced by a saw mill (in 1765), which produced the timber for the floor of [[Buckingham Palace]].<ref name="pigots" /> In 1551 [[Francis Goldsmith (by 1518–1586)|Francis Goldsmith]] bought a 'Great tenement called The Place' next to the bridge in Crayford, and between 1556 and 1586 purchased substantial amounts of local farmland and the Old Bell Public House.<ref name=goldsmith>[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/goldsmith-francis-1586 History of Parliament page on Francis Goldsmith] accessed 10 February 2016</ref>

In 1623 most of the parish of Crayford was purchased by Merchant Taylor Robert Draper<ref name=cresheld>[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/draper-cresheld-1646-94 History of Parliament article on Cresheld Draper] accessed 10 February 2016</ref> including Newbery Manor, Howbury Manor, Marshalls Court and May Place, where his family took up residence. Draper's wife Anne was the daughter of [[Thomas Harman]] who lived at Ellam House which subsequently passed to the Drapers.<ref name=froyle>[http://www.froyle.com/facet23.htm Facets of Froyle website articles on the Draper family] accessed 10 February 2016</ref> The ownerships subsequently passed to Robert Draper's son William, who was selected to be the Sheriff of the County of Kent but died in 1650 before taking office, and then to Robert's grandson, parliamentarian [[Cresheld Draper]]. On the death of Cresheld Draper in 1694, his heirs sold all the properties to [[Cloudesley Shovell|Sir Cloudesley Shovell]]'.<ref name=froyle />

Crayford Manor House was rebuilt in the eighteenth century, at the time essentially a farmhouse until it was remodelled in 1816 for the Rev. Thomas Barne. [[Historic England]] state it was built piecemeal over several periods, with a porch and [[Italianate]] features being added to the 1816 building.<ref name=manor>[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1412621 Historic England assessmengt of Crayford Manor House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207205159/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1412621 |date=7 February 2016 }} accessed 7 February 2016</ref>

Other notable 19th-century local houses included Shenstone (built around 1828 and demolished 1974, the site is now Shenstone School, with Shenstone's former grounds now being Shenstone Park),<ref name=shenst>[http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/8050 Parks & Gardens website page on Shenstone Park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208012004/http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/8050 |date=8 February 2016 }} accessed 7 February 2016</ref> Stoneyhurst (which became Stoneyhurst Convent High School and is now the site of St Catherine's Roman Catholic School for Girls),<ref name=maxim2>[http://www.dartfordarchive.org.uk/technology/engin_maxim.shtml Dartford Council website article on Hiram Maxim] Accessed 7 February 2016</ref><ref name=convent>[http://www.boroughphotos.org/bexley/pcd_1406/ Bexley Boroughs Photos website text accompanying picture of Stoneyhurst Convent High School] accessed 9 February 2016</ref> Martens Grove and Oakwood - the latter two designed by architect [[John Shaw Jr.]] and built by George Locke of builders Locke & Nesham with each occupying one of the houses.<ref name=shaw>[http://www.bexley.gov.uk/article/10663/Martens-Grove-and-Oakwood Bexley Council article on Martens and Oakwood] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215005811/http://www.bexley.gov.uk/article/10663/Martens-Grove-and-Oakwood |date=15 February 2016 }} accessed 7 February 2016</ref>

===Industrialisation===
In 1819, the former saw mill site became a flour mill. Another major employer was the silk works set up by [[Augustus Applegath]] and later run by David Evans. The Maxim Nordenfeldt Gun and Ammunition Factory was also a major employer, until taken over by the [[Vickers Company]] in 1897. Vickers built military aeroplanes and armaments and became the dominant employer, building homes, a theatre and a canteen close to many workshops. The canteen (built during the [[First World War]]) was converted for use by the [[Crayford Urban District]] Council as [[Crayford Town Hall]] and is a locally listed building.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bexley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2020-05/Local-List-November-2019.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023151456/https://www.bexley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2020-05/Local-List-November-2019.pdf |archive-date=2021-10-23 |url-status=live|title=Local List| publisher=London Borough of Bexley|date=1 November 2019|accessdate=5 February 2022}}</ref>

Another former major employer in Crayford was Dussek Brothers (part of Burmah-[[Castrol]] since the 1960s) who operated their oils and waxes blending business on Thames Road from around 1928 until the site was bought by BP and subsequently closed down in 2001. The entire site was demolished in early 2010. The David Evans silk works is another recent closure, in 2002.

In 1982 a [[housing cooperative]] was built at Craymill next to the A206 road.<ref>CDS https://www.cds.coop/for-co-ops/co-op/craymill/ </ref>