Editing London Borough of Bexley (section)

==History==
Prior to the 19th century the area now forming the [[London Borough|borough]] was sparsely populated: very few of the present settlements were mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]], although the [[village]] of [[Old Bexley|Bexley]] has a charter dated [[814|814 AD]].<ref name="A brief history of Bexley">[http://www.bag.org.uk/Education/History%20of%20Bexley_files/History%20of%20Bexley.htm A brief history of Bexley] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210051731/http://www.bag.org.uk/Education/History%20of%20Bexley_files/History%20of%20Bexley.htm |date=10 February 2009 }}</ref> [[Erith]] was a port on the River Thames until the 17th century; the opening of the sewage works at nearby [[Crossness]] in the late 19th century turned it into an industrial town.

Today's settlement pattern is the result of the gradual extension of the London influence. Until the 19th century it was an area with a few isolated buildings such as the [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] [[Danson House]]. With the coming of the railways building began apace, although the area is still composed of many disconnected settlements, interspersed with area of open ground and parks.

===Administrative history===
A [[Local board of health#Local Government Act 1858|local government district]] called [[Municipal Borough of Bexley|Bexley]] was created in 1880, covering the parish of [[Bexley]], which included both Bexley village and Bexleyheath.<ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1881 |page=494 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBcwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA494 |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Kent |date=1913 |pages=72, 75 |url=https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/61816/rec/5 |access-date=16 May 2024}}</ref><ref name="McKeon2012">{{cite web |last1=McKeon |first1=Simon |last2=Allen |first2=Lucy |title=Changing Times: The Broadway, Bexleyheath 1812-1912 |url=https://www.bexley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2020-07/Changing-Times-education-booklet.pdf |publisher=London Borough of Bexley |date=2012 |access-date=27 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|15}} Another local government district had been created covering the neighbouring parish of [[Erith]] in 1876.<ref>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Kent |date=1913 |page=278 |url=https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/62022 |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref> Such districts were converted into [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban districts]] under the [[Local Government Act 1894]].<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1894|year=1894|chapter=73|access-date=12 April 2024}}</ref>

Bexley Urban District absorbed the neighbouring parish of [[East Wickham]] in 1902; [[Welling]] had previously straddled the boundary between Bexley and East Wickham, but after 1902 was therefore wholly in Bexley.<ref>{{cite web |title=East Wickham Chapelry / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10228785#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref> [[Crayford]] was made an urban district in 1920.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crayford Urban District |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10025746 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref> Bexley was made a [[municipal borough]] in 1935,<ref>{{cite web |title=Bexley Urban District / Municipal Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10025746 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref> as was Erith in 1938.<ref>{{cite web |title=Erith Urban District / Municipal Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10199256 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref>

The modern borough was created in 1965 under the [[London Government Act 1963]], covering the combined area of the former boroughs of [[Municipal Borough of Bexley|Bexley]] and [[Municipal Borough of Erith|Erith]], the [[Crayford Urban District]] and the [[Sidcup]] area from the [[Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District]] (the [[Chislehurst]] area went to the [[London Borough of Bromley]]). The area was transferred from [[Kent]] to Greater London, to become one of the 32 London boroughs.<ref>{{cite book | first=Frederic |last=Youngs | title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England | volume=I: Southern England | year=1979 | publisher=Royal Historical Society | location=London | isbn=0901050679}}</ref>