Albany Park is an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

in south east London, England, within the

London Borough of Bexley The London Borough of Bexley () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Belvedere, London, Belvedere, Crayford ...

. It is located south east of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

. Located midway between

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. It was ...

and

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

, Albany Park is situated on high ground overlooking the valleys of the

River Cray The River Cray is the largest tributary of the River Darent. It is the prime river of outer, south-east Greater London, rising in Priory Gardens, Orpington, where rainwater percolates through the chalk bedrock of the Downs to form a pond wher ...

and the River Shuttle. Originally a rural area used as farmland, the settlement was established by a commercial housing developer, New Ideal Homesteads, during the 1930s. They built two estates at the site, Albany Park Estate and Royal Park Estate, which were sold at cheap prices to working-class families emigrating from Inner London. The company also brought about the foundation of

Albany Park railway station Albany Park railway station is in the London Borough of Bexley in south-east London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a populatio ...

in 1935, providing transport links to the estates along the Dartford Loop Line. Following decades saw a number of schools and both a Baptist church hall and an Anglican church constructed in the area, the latter of which has attracted attention for its architectural innovation.

History

During the 1930s, New Ideal Homesteads were the largest commercial developer active in north west Kent, known for keeping costs at a minimum by using prefabricated materials. They built the Albany Park estate in the middle of that decade, on land that had formerly been the Tanyard and Hurst Farms, part of the estate of the Vansittart family who lived at nearby Foots Cray. Most of the area had consisted of fields and spinneys, although nearby there was both an eighteenth-century mansion known as Hurst or Hurst Place, and Sidcup cemetery, which had been established in 1912. The company invented the name "Albany Park" for the housing estate that they were constructing. They built at almost double the housing density that had been recommended to them by the local Bexley council, and sold their houses at low prices, enabling them to be purchased by working-class families leaving

Inner London Inner London is the group of London boroughs that form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was used as an area ...

. The estate was adjacent to the Dartford Loop Line, which had existed 1866, although NIH ensured that

was opened on this line in July 1935. Next to this station were built a number of shops and the

Mock Tudor Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

Albany Hotel. Just prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, NIH began expanding the settlement in a south-eastward direction by beginning to build the Royal Park Estate; it was finished after the war by Bexley Borough Council. NIH had advertised their estate with a sales brochure in which they stated that "the charming countryside shall permanently retain the rural character of its vistas and shall not suffer disfigurement in any way". The Hidden London website later commented that this claim was "implausible", characterising Albany Park as "a lacklustre pair of estates". In 1935, Hurst Council Infant School was opened on Dorchester Avenue, with an adjacent junior school being added the following year. The two were later merged as Hurst Primary School. In 1951, Kent County Council then opened Footscray Place County Primary School on Riverside Road in 1951; it was renamed and enlarged as Royal Park School in 1954. In 1954, the Hurst Place mansion was also taken over as a community centre. Local Anglicans living on the estates found that they were two miles from the nearest Anglican church, and urged the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

to aid them. In 1944 the vicar of All Saints Church in Footscray began holding Anglican communion services in a room over the shops in Lewis Road, but by 1946 they were using a hall in Wren Road for this purpose. In 1954 a vicar was appointed to the town, and the Anglican community subsequently secured a plot of land in the centre of the estate on which to build a church; construction began in 1964 and was completed the following year. The historian of architecture

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

later described it as "ingenious, fashionable and slightly absurd". In 1969, Albany Park was granted parochial status by the Church of England, a special dispensation given that the area contained far fewer than the 10,000 residents normally required for such status to be granted. In 1955, the local Baptists erected a church hall in Stansted Crescent; they had intended to construct a larger church, although this never materialised. In 2001, a number of trees were planted along the railway line adjacent to the south side of Canterbury Avenue, with the area named the Millennium Woodland. The shops on Norman Parade were later demolished and replaced by an apartment block with a convenience store; this was named Cedarwood Place and was constructed by the Belgravia Homes company.

Geography

Nearest places are: *

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley. It had a population of approximately 15,600 in 2021 and is southeast of Charing Cross. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London ...

* Foots Cray

Transport

Albany Park station serves the area with services to

London Charing Cross Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a London station group, central London railway terminus between the Strand, London, Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South ...

and London Cannon Street via both

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

and Woolwich Arsenal as part of a loop service. There are also services to

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

. Albany Park is served by three

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

bus services,

229 __NOTOC__ Year 229 ( CCXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Cassius (or, less frequently, year 982 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 22 ...

269 Year 269 ( CCLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Paternus (or, less frequently, year 1022 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 269 for this ...

and B14. that connect the area with

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

Orpington Orpington is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Mary Cray, sou ...

and

Thamesmead Thamesmead () is an area of south-east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross, north-east of Woolwich and west of Erith. It mainly c ...

Amenities

Albany Park is served by two churches; the Baptist church in Stansted Crescent and the Anglican church of St Andrews which is situated on the corner of Maylands Drive and St Andrews Road and which was completed in 1965. There are a range of local shops which adjoin the main station entrance in Steynton Avenue. These include a number of restaurants and take-aways as well as two mini-markets, a dry cleaner, a hardware store, a pet supplies shop, a party and card shop and a hairdresser. The local pub, ''The Albany'' is also situated here as is a petrol station. Albany Park no longer has a GP surgery following the purchase of the one that had previously been situated in Longmead Drive by another local practice. After a short while, this was closed down and no alternative provision made. The building was subsequently sold and became a Vet's practice. The area's younger children are served by the ''Royal Park Primary School''. Albany Park provides access directly to Foots Cray Meadows

References

{{Reflist

History

Geography

Transport

Amenities

See also

References

Further reading