Crayford

Crayford is (arguably) the most historic town in North West Kent. Crayford is mentioned in the Venerable Bede’s, The Saxon Chronicles and in the Doomsday Book.

The town has always had an industrial base - Silk Screen Printing, Tanning, munitions, etc. Hiram Maxim’s Works in the centre of town was expanded and the workforce dramatically increased to almost 14.000 in World War I. Homes were built for the influx of workers and the town has continued to grow ever since. For a better understanding of the town’s many and varied innovations, inventions and world famous residents, the book, ‘The Spot That Is Called Crayford’, by William Carr, is a very good read!

The Sainsbury/Homebase complex was built in the 1980s and was another major change to Crayford, bringing in very high volumes of traffic. In the early 1990s, Crayford Town Hall was again under threat of demolition. The combination of the anticipated redevelopment of the Crayford Industrial Estate, the future of our much loved Town Hall and the growing concern for the town’s future, led to the formation of the Save Crayford Campaign.

From 1992 and with the support of the Civic Society, efforts were made to influence developers and Bexley Council into producing a more sensitive planning brief for the long term future of Crayford. Further consultations were carried out by Bexley Council and at long last the Crayford Forum is close to being formed.

Article prepared by Pat Smith

New Area Representative is Jenny Dunlop

Bexley Civic Society