Barnes Cray is a place in the London Borough of Bexley

London Borough of Bexley

The London Borough of Bexley lies in south east Greater London, and is a borough referred to as part of Outer London. It has common borders with the London Borough of Bromley to the south, the London Borough of Greenwich to the west, across the River Thames to the north it borders the London...

. Its name derives from the prominent local Barne family.

Up until the Victorian era

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 it was a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 a kilometre downstream of Crayford

Crayford

Crayford is a town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bexley that was an important bridging point in Roman times across the River Cray, a tributary of the River Darent, which is itself a tributary of the River Thames.-History:...

 where no more than sixteen homes were clustered. A calico-printing works drew water power from the culverted River Wansunt in early Victorian times, being later adapted for the manufacture of rubber goods, then felt and finally Brussels carpets. This carpet mill was demolished by 1890 and Barnes Cray House, the next largest building, was cleared by 1933, ending its days as a nursing home.

The remnants of the settlement became absorbed into Crayford

Crayford

Crayford is a town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bexley that was an important bridging point in Roman times across the River Cray, a tributary of the River Darent, which is itself a tributary of the River Thames.-History:...

 with the building of a munition village to facilitate the expansion of Vickers' armaments factory during the 1915 to 1919 period.
In 1920 the area became part of the Crayford Urban District

Crayford Urban District

Crayford was a local government district in north west Kent from 1920 to 1965 around the town of Crayford. As well as Crayford, it included Barnehurst, Barnes Cray and Slade Green.It was created an urban district in 1920 from part of Dartford Rural District....

 of Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 (having previously been in Dartford Rural District

Dartford Rural District

Dartford Rural District was a rural district with an area of in the county of Kent, England. In 1971 it had a population of 64,561 and an electorate of 43,911...

).
Following World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Crayford Urban District Council erected further housing estates to the north, eventually merging with estates spreading southwards from Erith

Erith

Erith is a district of southeast London on the River Thames. Erith's town centre has undergone a series of modernisations since 1961.-Pre-medieval:...

. In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963

London Government Act 1963

The London Government Act 1963 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which recognised officially the conurbation known as Greater London and created a new local government structure for the capital. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the area,...

, the urban district was abolished and its area transferred to Greater London to form part of the present-day London Borough of Bexley.

The Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre is in Barnes Cray.

The site of the current Barnes Cray Primary School is the proposed site for a new Academy for ages 3–19, which was consulted upon from September - December 2008, and the primary school will convert to the Academy in September 2009, with the secondary part of the Academy due to open in September 2010.

Education

For education in Barnes Cray see the main London Borough of Bexley article

Buses

• 428 - Erith
  Erith
  Erith is a district of southeast London on the River Thames. Erith's town centre has undergone a series of modernisations since 1961.-Pre-medieval:...
  
   Town Centre and Bluewater Shopping Centre