insideKENT Magazine Issue 27 - June 2014 | Page 95

DAYSOUT the charming BEXLEY VILLAGE SITUATED ON A CROSSING POINT OF THE RIVER CRAY, BEXLEY VILLAGE IS 13 MILES FROM THE CENTRE OF LONDON. ORIGINALLY A RURAL FARMING COMMUNITY, BEXLEY HAS BEEN A COMMUTER VILLAGE SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF THE RAILWAY IN 1866. PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS ‘BEXLEA’, MEANING A SETTLEMENT IN A CLEARING IN THE WOODS, THE TOWN WAS VALUED AT £20 IN THE DOMESDAY SURVEY OF 1086. THE VILLAGE HAD JUST 41 INHABITANTS WITH 100 PIGS AND 10 PLOUGHS – QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE CURRENT POPULATION OF OVER 200,000! Just before the Second World War, the village was consumed by London's urban sprawl. It is now known for bordering the South East London suburbs, namely the Borough of Bexley on the edge of the metropolitan area and the neighbouring county of Kent. With Bex