Erith

Work carried out at the former British Gypsum site in Church Manorway by the Museum of London Archaeological Service shows that the area was covered by a dense forest of oak, yew, and alder during the Neolithic Period, which by the Bronze Age had given way in part to sedge fen.[2]

The museum's work at the former site of Erith School in Belmont Road revealed traces of prehistoric settlement, and of a substantial community or farmstead in the first century AD.[3]

Following the collapse of Roman rule at the beginning of the 5th century, Britain was colonised by Anglo-Saxon invaders from northern Europe. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that they won the Battle of Crecganford (thought to be modern Crayford) in 457 and shortly after claimed the whole of Kent. Their different way of life was reflected in their pattern of settlement. The town and country estates of the Roman bureaucrats gave way to a network of villages, occupied by warriors and farmers. Erith was one such village and has a Saxon name, originally Ærre hyðe meaning "old haven".[4]

There was probably a church on the site of the present St John the Baptist's during the Anglo-Saxon period.[5] The early settlement was based around it, meaning that the centre of Erith was once west of its current location.

The earliest reference to the area is in a Latin charter of 695 recording a grant by the Bishop of the East Saxons of certain lands at Erith. The surrounding area was known as Lesnes or Lessness, which is mentioned in the Domesday Survey. After the Norman Conquest, Lessness passed into the possession of Bishop Odo.[6] In 1315, a Royal Charter was granted for a market to be held in Erith every Thursday. However, it was noted in 1776 that the market had long been discontinued.[7]

Erith owes its existence to the Thames and was, until the 1850s, essentially a small riverside port, given prominence by King Henry VIII's decision to open a naval dockyard there, approximately where the Riverside Gardens are now. Henry's famous warship, Henri Grâce à Dieu, was fitted out there in 1515.[8]

Following the death of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury in 1538, Erith 'alias Lysnes' was granted to his widow, Elizabeth, by Henry VIII 'with all its members and appurtenances, to hold in capite, by knight's service.'[9]

Up until the 19th century Erith remained a popular anchorage. Ships often discharged some cargo there to reduce their displacement before entering the shallows upstream.

In 1797 Edward Hasted described Erith as "consisting of one small street of houses, which leads to the water side", and mentions two annual fairs, at Ascension and Michaelmas.[10] In 1831 Erith's population was 1533 – it was described in 1840 as being "composed chiefly of two streets, one leading down to the water side, the other branching off to the left towards the church."[11]

By 1849 Erith was enjoying a short spell as a riverside resort. Its pier and nearby hotel gave hospitality for day-trippers arriving on Thames pleasure boats or by railway.[8]

The Local Government Act 1894 brought into existence Erith Urban District, which became the Municipal Borough of Erith in 1938. It included Northumberland Heath and Belvedere.

Erith Iron Works was established in 1864 on a riverside site at Anchor Bay, east of Erith's centre, by William Anderson.[12]

From 1881 an area northwest of Erith's centre was home to a large cable works founded by William Callender. This became British Insulated Callender's Cables (BICC), and eventually Pirelli, which announced its partial closure in 2003. The remainder became Prysmian.

The Old Library, a Grade II listed building in Walnut Tree Road by William Egerton, opened on 7 April 1906.

The town's first library, designed by local architect William Egerton, and funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, opened in 1906.[13]

Engineering became an important industry around Erith, with armaments and cables being the main products. Vickers was a major employer and was linked to the Royal Arsenal at nearby Woolwich.[8]

'The De Luci' 'dancing fish' mosaic statue at the roundabout in the town centre designed and created by artist Gary Drostle in 2006

During the First World War Erith was an important area for the manufacture of guns and ammunition, largely due to the presence of the large Vickers works.

The town suffered heavy bomb damage in the Second World War, mainly due its position on the riverside near the Royal Arsenal. The bomb damage and a gradual decline in local trade prompted major redevelopment in the 1960s.[8]

Riverside Shopping Centre

In 1961, plans were put forward to redevelop Erith into a modern, sleek shopping and working environment. This involved clearing the sub-standard housing by the riverside and altering the street layout. Some of the buildings erected, particularly the social housing tower blocks, are of a brutalist form that typified the overspill estates put up by almost all councils in England's major cities as an affordable way of clearing the slums.[14]

In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, Erith became part of the London Borough of Bexley.

The White Hart in Erith featuring Thames Barge mural by Gary Drostle.

Demolition of the old town started in 1966 and continued in phases until 1980, leaving only a few reminders of the old town centre. Many of the original Victorian buildings were lost, but some of the original townscape remains, including the White Hart in the High Street and St John's Church in West Street.[8]

Erith is the site of the Erith Oil Works, originally British Oil & Cake Mills (BOCM). It now processes various seeds into vegetable oils.

Riverside apartment blocks, just east of Erith town centre

Since the late 1990s Erith has been undergoing significant changes, with the Erith Western Thames Gateway[15] project being the culmination. The regeneration falls within the remit of the Thames Gateway project, with Erith as a key focus[16] for Bexley Council, as its only population centre on the River Thames.

Since 2000 a significant number of new flats have been constructed by the river by private developers. The Erith Western Gateway will include riverside flats,[17] and is expected to continue the regeneration of the area, hitherto a large underused area of the town centre. Bexley Council is seeking to produce a mixed-use development with a potential of 6,000 sq.m of new commercial space and over 500 new homes.[17]

In 2020, local campaigners secured National Lottery funding to restore the former library building to provide new community facilities.[18]

Erith is served by London Buses routes 99, 229, 428, 469, B12 and N89.

The nearest station is Erith for Southeastern services towards Dartford, Gillingham, Gravesend, London Cannon Street and London Charing Cross.

Slade Green railway station is on the same line and serves the eastern part of the town.

The A2016 road bisecting Erith, is a dual carriageway stretching across the Erith Marshes.