The late 15th or 16th-century Tudor Cottages in Foots Cray
It took its name from Godwin Fot, a local Saxon landowner recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and from the River Cray that passes through the village.[citation needed] It lay on the old Maidstone Road (now bypassed by the A20 road) leading from London to north Kent. Until the 20th century, Foots Cray dominated the nearby, less ancient hill-top hamlet of Sidcup. The combined area was designated as the Urban District of Foots Cray in 1902.[citation needed] Soon, however, the two settlements' fortunes were reversed, as Foots Cray's traditional industries declined after the First World War, and Sidcup grew rapidly as a commuter town after a railway was built linking it to central London. In 1921 this change was reflected in the renaming of Foots Cray Urban District to Sidcup Urban District.[citation needed] In 1965 both areas became part of the London Borough of Bexley.
The 18th-century houses at 180-188 Rectory Lane, Foots CrayThe Seven Stars, a Grade II-listed pub in Foots Cray, part of which is 16th-century
The estate of Foots Cray Place was rebuilt about 1754 for Bourchier Cleeve, on the site of the manor, as a Palladian mansion that was attributed to Isaac Ware; it was illustrated in this form in Vitruvius Britannicus iv (1777, pls. 8-10).[1] Foots Cray Place was remodelled for Benjamin Harenc (1792) by the minor London architect Henry Hakewill,[2] who further remodelled it in 1823 for Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer. Further works were carried out for Lord Bexley by another London architect of equally modest reputation, John William Hiort, who also built Bexley's London house in Great George Street, Westminster.[3] After a fire in 1949, it was demolished in 1950.[4] Now only the stable block remains, but the grounds, known as Foots Cray Meadows, provide a valuable public green space in this south-eastern suburb of London. This 89-hectare park was formed in the early 19th century from two mid-18th-century landscaped parks. It is listed by English Heritage as a Grade II historic park[5] and is a Local Nature Reserve.[6] The "London LOOP" walk passes through Foots Cray Meadows on its way from Old Bexley to Sidcup Place and Petts Wood. There is some industry in an area next to the meadows and bordering the river.
The naval wireless engineer and short-story writer F. G. Loring died at the Old House, Foot's Cray on 7 September 1951, aged eighty-two.[7]
Foots Cray stable block and adjacent walled garden were placed on the English Heritage 'at risk' register but have now been rescued following redevelopment to form a luxury home that was for sale in 2008 at £3.5 million.[citation needed]
The town gave its name to the suburb and former city of Footscray, now part of the metro area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Footscray is now part of the City of Maribyrnong.[8]
Geography
The 17th-century Walnut Tree Cottage in Foots Cray, a Grade II listed building
Foots Cray borders North Cray to the north and north east, Ruxley to the east and south east, St Paul's Cray to the south and south west and Sidcup to the west and north west.
Church
Just to the north of the main crossroads, All Saints Church, Foots Cray, is situated in Rectory Lane on the edge of Foots Cray Meadows near the River Cray. The church was built in the 1330s but is believed to stand on the site of an earlier (possibly Saxon) church evidenced by the late 12th century Norman font. The church includes a mid 14th century effigy, two 14th century windows on the south side of the nave and in the chapel, and a brass plate recording the death of Thomas Myton, Rector of Foots Cray, in 1489. The west door-case and porch date from about 1500. In 1638 the church owned eight acres of land which included an orchard, garden and cowyard, a dwelling house, hovel, barn and stable.[9][10]
The nave of All Saints Church, facing east towards the chancel
In 1863 extensive alterations took place, including the removal of the old box pews, with the church being substantially rebuilt. The nave was extended westwards with the bell tower at the west end of the church left standing on four oak posts so that the bells are now rung from the centre of the aisle. During the enlargement and remodelling of the chancel, the remains of twenty burials were found, as was a brass plate engraved with the date 1440 which still had a bunch of lavender placed underneath it. The stained glass windows date from the second half of the 19th century as do the three bells, although the bells were recast in 1987. In 1995-97 major roof repairs took place to the nave, chancel, chapel and vestry at a cost of nearly £70,000.[11]
The original parish registers dating back to 1559 were stolen in 1948 when vandals broke into the church and threw the church records into the River Cray, but copies of the register from 1559 to 1832 had been made.[11]
The original churchyard was extended in 1876 courtesy of a donation of one acre of land by Robert Arnold Vansittart, and again in 1885. The churchyard includes an unusual iron stone grave slab which marked the burial of Martin Manning 'Yeoman' in 1656 (although the inscription is no longer legible). The granite Sir John Pender monument was blown over in the hurricane of October 1987 despite its great weight and later re-erected by the Pender family and Sir John's old company Cable & Wireless plc.[11]
In 1996 when contractors were cleaning out the void just above the walls around the nave, they found a Daily Express newspaper dated 29 October 1957 in an envelope signed by the seven workmen who had been installing a gas-fired boiler.[12]
Transport
The memorial to John Pender in the churchyard around All Saints Church
The Coca-Cola Company has a large manufacturing and bottling plant in Foots Cray which opened in 1961 and employs 361 people. This plant was where Dasani water was produced.[13]
Kolster-Brandes was a manufacturer of radio and television sets that moved to Foots Cray in 1928. The company was later acquired by ITT. The Kolster-Brandes company rugby team, which was formed in 1967, is now called Foots Cray RUFC and competes to this day. The team's badge incorporates the STC letters which represent Standard Telephones and Cables, the company which took over the Kolster Brands business.
Fujitsu had a call centre and software development offices on the site of the former Kolster-Brandes factory which closed in 2009.[14]
Richard Klinger Group, an Austrian company which made engine gaskets, hydraulic pipelines and water level gauges and valves, had a factory built in 1937 fronting Edgington Way in a Modernist architectural style. This Klinger factory, later bought by French company Trouvey Cauvin, closed in the 1990s[15] and was severely damaged by fire in 2013.[16] The main and flank facades were retained when the building was converted for self-storage use during 2018/19 when the exterior clock was restored.
The Robert Greig foodstore near the village centre was modified as a Lidl supermarket in the early 1990s and traded until 16th January 2022, when it was superseded by a purpose-built supermarket on Sevenoaks Way, in St. Mary Cray to the south.
Sport
A small short lived greyhound racing track was opened during the mid-1930s in the area. The exact location is unknown but according to the 1934 Kelly's Directory was located on the Sidcup Hill side of Foots Cray. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body, the National Greyhound Racing Club) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks.[17][18]
In 1977, Foots Cray Lions football club was established, with one team entering the local league. The club's matches are played at Baugh Road in Foots Cray. The club has male and female adult and junior teams. In 2016 Foots Cray Lions were voted Charter Standard Development Club of the Year by the Football Association.[citation needed]
Notes
↑ Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press), s.v. "Isaac Ware", under "Doubtful and attributed works".
↑ Henry Hakewill (1771-1830), a pupil of John Yenn, became architect to the trustees of Rugby School; he is buried at North Cray (Colvin 1995 s.v. "Henry Hakewill").
↑ John William Hiort (1772-1861) was an architect attached to the Office of Works, where he was much employed in designing occasional structures for ceremonies; he designed some ancillary structures at Claremont House, Surrey, for Princess Charlotte, and patented bricks for designing circular chimney flues that were used at Buckingham Palace. (Colvin 1995, s.v. "John William Hiort").
Chislehurst is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, 10 miles (16 km) south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in Kent.
Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is 11.3 miles (18.2 km) south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of Bromley and Greenwich. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent.
The London Borough of Bexley is a 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, Crayford, Welling and Old Bexley. The London Borough of Bexley is within the Thames Gateway, an area designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. The local authority is Bexley London Borough Council.
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 13 miles (21 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross and south of Bexleyheath.
Eltham is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is 8.7 miles (14.0 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Eltham North, South and West have a total population of 35,459. 88,000 people live in Eltham.
Crockenhill is a village in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 1 mile south of Swanley and 4.5 miles north east of Orpington, adjacent to the Kent border with Greater London.
Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, 16 miles (26 km) southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2021 census was 17,826.
Albany Park is an area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It is located 12.0 miles (19 km) south east of Charing Cross. Located midway between Sidcup and Bexley, Albany Park is situated on high ground overlooking the valleys of the River Cray and the River Shuttle.
Blackfen is an area of south-east London, England, north of Sidcup in the London Borough of Bexley. Prior to 1965 it was in the county of Kent.
The London Borough of Bexley owns and maintains over 100 parks and open spaces within its boundaries, with a total of 638 hectares. They include small gardens, river and woodland areas, and large parks with many sporting and other facilities.
St Mary Cray is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Historically it was a market town in the county of Kent. It is located north of Orpington, and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Charing Cross.
St Paul's Cray is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley in Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was within the historic county of Kent. It is located south of Sidcup and north of Orpington.
Longlands is an area of South East London that straddles the boundary of both the London Borough of Bexley and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It lies north west of Sidcup and south east of Eltham.
Ruxley is a rural settlement of South East London, England that straddles the boundary of the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley. It is located 13 miles southeast of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London, in the Metropolitan Green Belt between Sidcup and Swanley and is also adjacent to the Greater London border with the county of Kent.
Ruxley was an ancient hundred, a land division in the north west of the county of Kent, England. Its area has been mostly absorbed by the growth of London; with its name currently referring to the Ruxley district. Its former area now corresponds to a majority of the London Borough of Bromley, a large part of the London Borough of Bexley and a small part of the Kent District of Sevenoaks. The hundred was within the Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, in the west division of Kent.
Foots Cray Meadows is an area of parkland and woodland 97 hectares in size, within the London Borough of Bexley, England. It borders the suburbs of Albany Park, Sidcup, Foots Cray, North Cray and Ruxley. The River Cray runs through it in a north-easterly direction. The London Loop, a public recreational walking path around London, also known as the "M25 for walkers", runs through the meadows parallel to the river from Sidcup Place, just south of the meadows. Two notable bridges cross the River Cray in the meadows: Five Arches bridge and the smaller Penny Farthing Bridge.
North Cray is an area in South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Sidcup and south of Bexleyheath and is 12.6 miles (20.3 km) south-east of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London in the Metropolitan Green Belt.
Foots Cray Place was one of the four country houses built in England in the 18th century to a design inspired by Palladio's Villa Capra near Vicenza. Built in 1754 near Sidcup, Kent, Foots Cray Place was demolished in 1950 after a fire in 1949. Of the three other houses in England, Nuthall Temple in Nottinghamshire was built 1757 and demolished in 1929; the other two survive: Mereworth Castle and Chiswick House, both now Grade I listed buildings. A modern fifth example, Henbury Hall, was built near Macclesfield in the 1980s. Another example of a similar structure in England is the Temple of the Four Winds at Castle Howard, which is a garden building not a house.
Bourchier Cleeve (1715–1760) was an English pewterer and writer of pamphlets.
St Botolph's Church is a church building in Ruxley, in the London Borough of Bromley, southeast London, England. It was constructed in the thirteenth century and dedicted to Botwulf of Thorney. St Botolph's was used as a church for around 300 years but was deconsecrated in 1557. The church was then used a farm building for over 400 years and the remains of an oast house are still adjacent to it. In the 1960s archaeological work was carried out on the site and found evidence of an older wooden building, suggesting there may have been an older Saxon church in the same location. Today the church is a Grade II listed building and a scheduled ancient monument on the grounds of Ruxley Manor Garden Centre, although many features are still intact, the church is in disrepair and English Heritage have agreed to pay a grant to help preserve the building.
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