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PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE BOROUGH
The London Borough of Bexley is bounded on the north by the River Thames, to the west by
the London Borough of Greenwich, to the south by the London Borough of Bromley and to the
east by the Municipal Borough of Dartford and the Rural District of Dartford.
The greater part of the Borough stands on elevated ground from sea level to 270 feet above sea
level. There is a low lying strip of land about one mile in width adjoining the River Thames which
is marshy and liable to flooding. This has until recently been mainly open marsh and grassland
except in the Erith area where considerable heavy industrial development has taken place. The
Greater London Council's Southern Outfall Sewage Works (Crossness) occupies a large area of the
low lying land in the Abbey Wood area and the new development of Thamesmead is being built in
this area also.
Two small rivers run through the Borough. The River Cray passes through the southern part of
the Borough via North Cray, Bexley and Crayford to join the River Darenth on the north-east
boundary which then crosses Crayford marshes before discharging into the River Thames; the
River Shuttle is small and traverses the Borough centrally from west to east joining the River Cray
at Hall Place.
Geologically the Borough lies in the London basin mainly on the London clay. There are also
beds of alluvium, sand and pebbles. Underlying all these beds is the chalk of the Eocene period.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
Bexley is mainly a residential area although important industries are located in the Borough.
The heavy industries are mainly in Erith and also in Crayford. Considerable light industry is to be
found in Sidcup and Foots Cray.
A large part of the housing in the Borough is owner-occupied and was erected between the two
world wars and therefore is still in good condition and fully in accord with modern housing
standards. There has also been much post-war development. Since 1966 extensive development of
the early stages of the new town of Thamesmead has been taking place on the low lying ground
bordering the River Thames at Abbey Wood, which will ultimately provide accommodation for
approximately 17,000 additional residents in the Borough.
There is no slum clearance problem, although in the older parts of the Borough small pockets of
ageing and sub-standard accommodation exist which are dealt with by closure and demolition from
time to time.
The proportion of elderly persons over 65 years of age in the community is 10.9% (for England
and Wales 12.5%).
IMMIGRANTS
There is a relatively small number of immigrants, other than Scots, Irish and Welsh, in the
Borough, the Erith area being the most popular place of residence. The London Borough of Bexley
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