Welling

“Welling, Kent, a hamlet by the tenth milestone on the Dover Road at the eastern foot of Shooters Hill, and extending towards Bexley Heath. The northern site of the village is in the East Wickham Parish, the southern in Bexley ... Welling consists of the usual roadside habitations, a few respectable shops, and a couple of good roadside inns ... The extensive grounds seen on the right ... are a part of Danson Park.” (an extract from ‘A Handbook to the environs of London’ by James Thorne 1876).

The “hamlet” has been engulfed by a sea of houses from the 1920s onwards, but the “extensive grounds” of Danson Park have been preserved for the public, together with the open farm land of East Wickham which has become the East Wickham Open Space.

The “few respectable shops” have been replaced by an extensive shopping centre surrounding ‘Welling Corner’, the cross-roads in the centre of the town, providing a wide selection of specialist shops.

Welling is also fortunate in having Shooters Hill with the woodlands of Oxleas Woods on its western boundary, affording miles of Woodland Walks, as well as the unique development of Woodlands Farm providing wide opportunities for wildlife study, and orienteering, and the chance for local schoolchildren and other groups to meet the animals.

Laurie Dunmow, Area Representative

Bexley Civic Society