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Monday 9:30am - 5:30pm Tuesday 9:30am - 5:30pm Wednesday 9:30am - 5:30pm Thursday 9:30am - 5:30pm

Bexley Archives

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Bexley Local Studies and Archives Centre. Located on the first floor of Central Library, Bexleyheath.

The Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre holds historic materials for the London Borough of Bexley located at Central Library. The centre holds a variety of sources for local and family historians and people researching the history of a building or house.

31/08/2026

Looking for something to read over the summer? Try one of the local history books available at Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre.

30/08/2026

Looking for something to do over the summer? Try exploring your local area using these historic Ordnance Survey maps available at Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre, price £3.50 each.

27/08/2026

Did anyone watch BBC’s Fake or Fortune last night? Under discussion was a Broadwood piano owned by the one and only Chesney Hawkes. His father had acquired it from the former house of John Lennon (of Beatle fame) at Tittenhurst in Berkshire.

The Fame or Fortune team visited Surrey History Centre to see the archive collection of John Broadwood & Sons piano manufacturers. From the archives they found that the Broadwood piano serial number 46526 was bought on 2 July 1901 by Miss E. L. Hassell, a piano teacher who lived in Hither Green. It was said that she later moved to Bexleyheath where she continued to teach until she died in 1923.

In fact, Miss Hassell lived in Welling and then in Bridgen, west of Bexley Village.

Eady Louisa Hassell had been born in Limehouse, London in 1859 as one of the daughters of Alfred and Mary Hassell. Alfred worked as a hair cutter, and after his wife died he lived at Verbena Cottage in Lion Road, Bexleyheath until his death in 1903. Meanwhile, Miss Hassell became a pupil of the Austrian pianist Ernst Pauer and, according to newspapers advertising her services, she worked as a music mistress at Nelson College, Blackheath.

Around 1910 she moved to 15 Granville Road, Welling, where she lived on her own and earned her living as a teacher of piano, violin, singing and harmony. Around 1920 she moved to 2 Park Cottage, Bridgen where she continued to teach, and presumably the piano moved with her.

Her house in Bridgen is shown in this snowy picture from 1910. 2 Park Cottage is the second property from the left (number 1 is the first of that pair, where the boy is standing).

Also pictured here is another view from the opposite direction, and what appears to be rush hour in Bridgen in 1925!

26/08/2026

26th August
Today is the birthday of Prince Albert, the beloved husband of Queen Victoria. Together they cultivated a reputation for high minded philanthropy and domestic virtue that greatly increased the popularity of the monarchy. Today the Prince Consort is remembered in Bexley through the Prince Albert Public House in Bexleyheath and two Albert Roads, one in Belvedere and the other in Bexley Village.

22/08/2026

22nd August
On this day in 1642 Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham marking the start of the English Civil War. The division of the country between Roundheads and Cavaliers was reflected in Bexley, where Sir William Compton of Erith, John Wroth of Blendon Hall, George Cooke of Mount Mascal, William Walkins of Frognal and Sir Francis Leigh of East Wickham supported the King while Richard Champneys of Hall Place, Sir Peter Wroth of Blendon Hall, William Draper of May Place and John Goldwell of Lamorbey all supported Parliament. Sir Thomas Walsingham of Pike Place managed to support both sides at once until his duplicity was finally uncovered.
1. Charles I
2. Cavaliers and Roundheads
3. Battle of Edge Hill
4. Puritan preaching to the Roundheads' army

20/08/2026

There were plenty of jobs on offer in the Bexleyheath edition of the Kentish Times in August 1970. Take your pick from Male Factory Operative or Female Wire Assembler. Male Porter or Lady Secretary.

19/08/2026

Thanet Road, Then and Now
Thanet Road in Erith was constructed in the later 19th century, following rapid industrial expansion in the town of Erith. It served as housing for Erith’s workers who would have worked in the Iron works, cable factories and ports nearby. Its proximity to Erith’s pier was beneficial given that the riverside was a centre of trade, allowing for goods produced in Erith to be transported along the Thames, into London and other neighbouring towns. Thanet Road’s Victorian buildings stick out in Erith today, as during the Second World War, Erith was bombed and much of the town had to be redeveloped. Amongst Erith’s new tall flats and modern housing lies Thanet Road, which is unique for its Victorian architecture. Thanet Road neighbours a park, the ‘Recreation Ground’ which during the War was home to a bomb shelter which kept many of Erith’s residents safe during air raids. 100 Years ago in the 1920s, Street Directories and the local Register of Electors portray the residents of Thanet Road and exactly what made them suitable to vote, the majority of Thanet Road residents held ‘Occupation qualification’, whilst some also held ‘Resident qualification’. The history of Thanet Road’s occupation is told in the Street Directories, showing who moved elsewhere and those who stayed, examples of this could be seen with families such as George R. Wix, Alfred J. Read or William S. Richardson who are recorded in both the 1921 Street Directory and 1926 Register of Electors.

Address

Townley Road
Bexleyheath
DA67HJ

Opening Hours

Monday	9:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	9:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	9:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday	9:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+442030453369

Website

http://www.bexley.gov.uk/archives

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