Bexley Archives
banner
bexleyarchives.bsky.social
Bexley Archives
@bexleyarchives.bsky.social
Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre holds historic materials for the London Borough of Bexley
On Saturday 14 February 2.30pm to 4pm we have a talk by Chris Hawkins on 'Lesnes Abbey - Dissolution and the Years After'. Why was it one of the first to be dissolved and how were the ruins saved?

Tickets £5, location Central Library Bexleyheath - contact us to book your place!
January 19, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Thanks to @jpaprice.bsky.social who gave an excellent talk at #BexleyArchives on Deptford Ragged School which later provided education to working people. Here in Bexley evening classes in arithmetic, dressmaking and leatherwork (1928) had expanded to car maintenance and Tourist French by 1963.
January 19, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Still a handful of tickets left for our talk on 17 January at 2.30pm by Dr John Price - Educating Deptford: The Deptford Ragged School and its Place in the Community.

Tickets £5, location Central Library Bexleyheath - contact us to book your place!
January 12, 2026 at 4:49 PM
We wish everyone a #MerryChristmas and hope you all have a jolly good time. (Pictured, Rose and Crown, Welling, 1981). #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 25, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Here is a snowy scene at Hall Place Gardens, Bexley in 1964. #WinterWonderland #ArchiveAdventCalendar
Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre is now closed for Christmas. We will re-open at 9.30am on 5 January.
December 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This is how locals in Bexley village celebrated Christmas in 1995! Were you there? As well as splendid costumes, there are some lovely interior views of the shops as they used to be.
Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre is now closed for Christmas. We will re-open at 9.30am on 5 January.
Bexley Christmas Show, 1995
A lively record of Christmas festivities in Bexley, a variety of impressive performances, from jazz bands to mime artists, as jaunty locals dressed as Christmas decorations populate the streets at nig...
www.londonsscreenarchives.org.uk
December 23, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Our first talk of 2026 is on 17 January 2.30pm by Dr John Price @jpaprice.bsky.social - Educating Deptford: The Deptford Ragged School and its Place in the Community, exploring stories of the children who attended. Tickets £5, location Central Library Bexleyheath - contact us to book your place!
December 22, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Parcels of ‘toothsome cake and chocolate’ were sent by Sidcup residents to boys in the trenches in 1916, but by 1917 the making of fancy pastries was prohibited. (Sidcup Times). #NaughtyOrNice #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 22, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Bell ringing at St John's Church #Sidcup in 1979. #Bells #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
We have a small display here at #BexleyArchives on Hides department store which includes this paper bag. Hides was a popular shop in Bexleyheath's Broadway 1861-1979 and had wonderful displays every Christmas. #WrappingPaper #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 15, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Our first talk of 2026 is on 17 January 2.30pm by Dr John Price - Educating Deptford: The Deptford Ragged School and its Place in the Community, exploring stories of the children who attended. Tickets £5, location Central Library Bexleyheath - contact us to book your place! @jpaprice.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Thank goodness for the lamplighter on #DarkNights, here at 1. Bridgen and 2. Erith #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Some fabulous costumes here at Welling's Hook Lane School nativity play in 1963. Photograph from our Kentish Times collection. #Nativity #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM
1970s food at its finest at the Mayor of Bexley’s Christmas Luncheon in December 1972, held at the Riverside Baths, Erith: ham and melon, soup, scampi, pineapple, cheese, Riesling and brandy. #FestiveFood #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Still stuck for gift ideas? We have #Christmas2025 bargains here at #Bexley Archives.
⭐️Bargains on our books, plus 3 for 2 on our Old Ordnance Survey maps.
⭐️And if you aren’t able to visit us to make your purchase, we are offering free postage to UK addresses until 18 December.
December 6, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Sometimes what wasn't built is more interesting than what was built! Our collection of planning applications includes a proposed development in 1951 for Blackfen which included building an ice rink. These plans were eventually abandoned. #WinterSports #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 6, 2025 at 11:00 AM
2025 has been a year of anniversaries for #CelebratingBexley and #BexleyArchives – Dissolution of Lesnes Abbey (500 years), Crossness Pumping Station (160 years), Danson Park (100 years), London Borough of Bexley (60 years). #EYAAnniversaries #ExploreYourArchive
December 6, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Bexley parish baptisms, marriages, burials and electoral registers have been digitised and are available to search for free on Ancestry at Bexley Library branches - invaluable for #familyhistory and #localhistory. #EYADigital #ExploreYourArchive
December 4, 2025 at 2:30 PM
For #ChristmasCarol here is the 1995 Bexley Christmas Carol Concert at Crook Log Sports Centre, conducted by local MP Rt Hon. Sir Edward Heath. #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 4, 2025 at 2:04 PM
At Bexley we have a huge collection of images taken by amateur photographer Arthur Boswell. As well as local landmarks, he liked to photograph people, including his gardener whose dogs liked to pose for the camera. #EYAPets #ExploreYourArchive
December 3, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Hides department store in Bexleyheath was known for its #FestiveLights each year. It closed its doors for the final time in 1979. #ArchiveAdventCalendar
December 2, 2025 at 3:51 PM
For #EYASilence we immediately thought of Blackfen Library - pictured here in 1949 - where stern librarians inspected children’s hands for cleanliness before they could borrow books. If anyone whispered there would be a very brusque ‘SSHH!’. #ExploreYourArchive
December 2, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Does your church, faith group or club have a regular newsletter? At #BexleyArchives Centre newsletters are donated to us on a regular basis. Each one provides a fascinating snapshot of community life at a particular moment in time. #LocalHistory
December 1, 2025 at 3:26 PM
For #BlackFriday we have some amazing #Christmas2025 deals here at #BexleyArchives
⭐️Bargains on our books, plus 3 for the price of 2 on our Old Ordnance Survey maps.
⭐️And if you aren’t able to visit us to make your purchase, we are offering free postage to UK addresses until 18 December.
November 25, 2025 at 2:25 PM
That important event in the #BexleyArchives calendar: putting up the Christmas decorations. We have to admit our #BexleyLibraries colleagues have outdone us this year with Rudy the Reindeer. #Christmas2025
November 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM