Barnes Cray is an area in south-east London within the

London Borough of Bexley The London Borough of Bexley () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Belvedere, London, Belvedere, Crayford ...

. It is located on the

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

border with

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, bordering the Dartford Borough. It is located north west of

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

History

Up until the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

it was a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

a kilometre downstream of

Crayford Crayford is a town and Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in South London, South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies east of Bexleyheath and north west of Dartford. Crayford was in the Historic countie ...

where no more than sixteen homes were clustered. A calico-printing works drew water power from the culverted River Wansunt in early Victorian times, being later adapted for the manufacture of rubber goods, then felt and finally Brussels carpets. This carpet mill was demolished by 1890 and Barnes Cray House, the next largest building, was cleared by 1933, ending its days as a nursing home. The remnants of the settlement became absorbed into

with the building of a munition village to facilitate the expansion of Vickers' armaments factory during the 1915 to 1919 period. In 1920 the area became part of the

Crayford Urban District Crayford was a local government district in north west Kent from 1920 to 1965 around the town of Crayford. As well as Crayford, it included Barnehurst, Barnes Cray and Slade Green. It was created an urban district in 1920 from part of Dartford ...

(having previously been in

Dartford Rural District Dartford Rural District was a rural district with an area of in the county of Kent, England. In 1971 it had a population of 64,561 and an electorate of 43,911. At dissolution it was the most populous rural district council in Kent, but had o ...

). Following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Crayford Urban District Council erected further housing estates to the north, eventually merging with estates spreading southwards from

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

. In 1965, under the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

, the urban district was abolished and its area transferred to Greater London to form part of the present-day London Borough of Bexley.http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10025746&c_id=10001043
''visionofbritain.org.uk'' The Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre is in Barnes Cray. The site of the current Barnes Cray Primary School is the proposed site for a new

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

for ages 3–19, which was consulted upon from September – December 2008,Haberdashers' Aske's Crayford Academy Consultation document
accessed 8 October 2008 and the primary school will convert to the academy in September 2009, with the secondary part of the academy due to open in September 2010.Haberdashers' Aske's Crayford Academy website
accessed 9 August 2009

Transport

Barnes Cray is served by the

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

bus service 428 to

via

Slade Green Slade Green is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies northeast of Bexleyheath, northwest of Dartford and south of Erith, and east-southeast of Charing Cross. Historically Slade Green was part of th ...

and to Bluewater via

. The nearest rail link to the area is at Crayford station.

Nearest places

Barnehurst Barnehurst is a town and Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Greater London within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north east of Bexleyheath, and 13.0 miles (20 km) east south-east of Charing Cross. It is separated from Nor ...

References

{{LB Bexley Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Bexley Crayford