Crayford Town Hall

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 2 Mar 2008

The building was originally constructed in 1915 as the canteen and mess hall for the employees of Vickers. It was bought in 1929 by Crayford Urban District Council for use as the Town Hall. That body disappeared during the reorganization of local government in 1965 and the area is now under the jurisdiction of the London Borough of Bexley, although the Town Hall is still used for some local government administration. Its address is 112 Crayford Road which is in the foreground. The pale blue tablet above the main entrance of the Town Hall is of Crayford Urban District Council's coat of arms showing a horse from the arms of Kent County Council, two waves representing the River Thames and the River Cray, and a maroon falcon in memory of the first heavier than air flying machine, which was constructed by Sir Hiram Maxim and flown on rails in a field in Crayford in 1894. The Latin motto on the coat of arms is "Fortiter et Recte", which translated means "Boldly and Rightly", and is now the motto on the coat of arms of the London Borough of Bexley. The Town Hall has a large open space behind it that is the subject of a proposed major redevelopment costing £30 million. This would include new homes, new shops and new community facilities around a new town square. The Town Hall would be retained and refurbished as part of this scheme.

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