Erith and Belvedere Local History Society

20/01/2026

This is a paint by a lady of the Parish family. It is from Bexley Road Erith looking across to the River Thames. In. The middle ground can be seen St. JOHNS Church in West Street..This ground in the main is now the Quarry Estate. Painted around 1870/80, I think.

28/12/2025

23/04/2025

Book tickets for Tobie Medland Gypsy Jazz Quartet at Crazy Coqs, a cabaret and theatre in Brasserie Zédel, Soho.

05/10/2023

https://churchilltheatre.co.uk/Online/tickets-los-endos-bromley-2023

13/07/2023

Starting next week, The Exchange is hosting have a series of 3 Local History Talks with Ken Chamberlain, long-term chair of the history society. Learn all about the rich history of the local area with these illustrated talks, starting with Walnut Tree Estate.


19 July - Walnut Tree Estate - our would-be neighbours - before the building was replaced with the current council offices.
Book for this talk here: https://www.theexchangeerith.com/whats-on/history-talk-the-walnut-tree-estate


23 August - Belvedere Remembered - or as it was known until the mid-19th century, Lessness Heath. Learn about old manor houses, churches, Victorian Villas - and about the murderer and the spy that once lived here.
Book for this talk here: https://www.theexchangeerith.com/whats-on/history-talk-belvedere-remembered

20 September - Pier Road - which used to be known as the 'prettiest road in the town'! Ken will guide you through its history - once containing mostly private houses but in due course a cinema, stores, and a dance hall.
Book for this talk here: https://www.theexchangeerith.com/whats-on/history-talk-pier-road


Ken really has a wealth of knowledge about the area and if you have any interest in the history of this place, these talks aren't to be missed. Book online for any or all of the talks. £6 each.

21/07/2021

British Plaster Board was a major manufacturer in the town with it's factory situated between Corinthian and Church Manorway. It had a jetty where the raw materials necessary could be off loaded.
I The company closed the factory which has since been demolished and relocated to East Sussex. although there is a small training unit located off Church Manorway.
I am told by people who know these things that there is a shortage of plaster board at present. I just wonder if the company regret their decision to relocate. I doubt it.

17/07/2021

In the mid 19th Century Erith became the yachting centre of the River Thames. Thames Yacht Club and the Corinthian Yacht Club regularly held races off the town.
In 1863 a race was arranged for Thames Sailing Barges, always successful and popular they continued until the 1890's.
A recently acquired print shows the end of the 1867 race, the fifth in the series. Note the accompanying pleasure steamer she is the Princess Alice, which was the subject of one of the worse maritme disasters, when on the 3rd September 1878 she was sunk in a collision with the steamer Bywell Castle off Tripcock Point with the loss of over 600 lives..
In 2013 the organisers of the Thames Match arranged a race, to finish off Erith celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first race. It was a greast sucess and attracted large crowds on the Pier to witness the finish.

04/05/2021

The Vicarage of All Saints Church, Belvedere has changed little since it was built, and paid for by Sir Culling Eardley in the 1850's.

26/04/2021

The present Erith Post Office was opened in March 1930. It was built on derelict ground which had previous;y been known by locals as the High Wall, and used for many years as a Market.
The new post office was the town's fifth, but the first to be purpose built. Having it's own Sorting Office and 'Posties'
Our two photos show the front of the building, first in 1935, (sorry about the quality) and the second as it is now. At least the stamp machine, albeit redundant, is still in place.