Bexleyheath Museums, Landmarks and Local History: Red House, Danson House and Hall Place

Bexleyheath and Bexley village have a handful of well-documented historic places. The history below comes from Historic England's list entries, the council, the National Trust and the venues' own websites. Visiting arrangements change, so we link each venue rather than quoting hours or prices.

Red House

The Historic England list entry records Red House, on Red House Lane, as Grade I, first listed on 25 May 1950. It says the house was built in 1859 by Philip Webb, his first commission, for William Morris, who lived there until 1864. It describes a moderately sized L-shaped red brick house of two storeys in a simplified Gothic style, with an interior that is almost unaltered, including fixed cupboards and a settle with some painted decoration by Burne-Jones and others.

The council's visitor attractions page describes it as the Arts and Crafts home of William and Jane Morris and the centre of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. The National Trust page says:

• visits to the house are by pre-booked guided tour, booked on the Trust's website
• the address is Red House Lane, Bexleyheath, DA6 8JF
• the nearest parking is at Danson Park, about a mile away, with a charge at weekends and bank holidays
• there are two pre-bookable disabled parking spaces on site, booked by phoning the property
• the grounds include a gravel driveway and uneven brick paths, with ramp access to the ground floor of the house but no step-free access to the first floor

Prices and opening dates are on the Trust's page and change through the year.

Danson House and Danson Park

Historic England's list entry for Danson Park Mansion records it as Grade I, first listed on 1 October 1953. It says the mansion was built by Sir Robert Taylor for John Boyd, later Sir John, in the 1760s, in Portland stone, and that the park was laid out by Capability Brown. It singles out the central oval staircase with a gallery of eight Ionic columns and an oval dome. The council gives a slightly different year for the house than Historic England, so we state the decade only.

The council's Danson House page adds that:

• by the 20th century the house was in an almost ruinous state, and in 1995 English Heritage identified it as the most significant building at risk in London
• a decade of restoration followed, and the restored interior opened to the public in 2005
• public heritage tours run between April and August only, on listed Sundays, with guided tours booked by email to dansonhouseheritage@kent.gov.uk
• the park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

The house is also the borough's register office; see our register office guide. Danson Park also has the council's watersports centre, covered in our leisure centres guide.

Hall Place and Gardens

Hall Place, in Bexley near the River Cray (sat nav DA5 1PQ), is described by the council as a historic house and garden. Its history page says that:

• in the 18th century it came into the ownership of the Dashwood family
• from 1795 it was leased as a school for young gentlemen
• Lady Limerick, its last tenant, lived there alone from 1917 to 1943
• in January 1944 a US Army Signal Corps unit set up an intercept station there, code named Santa Fe, which took part in the Enigma code breaking operation, Ultra
• parts of the garden wall retain a black diaper brickwork pattern and date from the 16th century, and the topiary known as the Queen's Beasts was planted in 1953 to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

The Hall Place homepage says garden entry is free, that the historic house is open for pre-booked guided tours only, and that it publishes separate winter and summer opening hours. Its find us page says it offers free parking and that the nearest station is Bexley, about a 15 minute walk.

The clock tower and the Roman road

The council's town centres page says Bexleyheath formed around a Roman road used by pilgrims to Canterbury for hundreds of years, and that its clock tower was built to commemorate the coronation of King George V and formally opened in 1912.

Researching local history

The council's archives and local history page says the Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre, at Central Library, holds historic material for the borough. It lists an online catalogue with over 120,000 entries, research enquiries, family and local history collections and books and maps for sale.

Other places the council lists as visitor attractions include Lesnes Abbey Woods and Crossness Pumping Station, both further north in the borough.