East Bexleyheath takes up lion’s share of the High Street (Broadway). The High Street makes up half of the northern boundary, which stretches on past it eastwards (to Watling Street). The main exception to this relatively straight boundary is Bexleyheath Academy, which pokes up of Broadway to the northeast of East Bexleyheath. The area south of the High Street is mostly semi-detached and terraced housing, as well as spots of woodland to the south close to Townley Grammar School and a large field to the west of the A220 (Gravel Hill), surrounding St. Columba’s Catholic Boys’ School and just before Hall Place Gardens and the River Cray. The southern border stops a little short of the A2 (East Rochester Way).

The suburb was largely built in the 1930s, with the exception of the High Street, which was rebuilt in the 60s, although some of its old architecture survives, in particular the Bexleyheath Clock Tower, built in 1912. Prior to the 19th century, the area was a part of the hamlet of Upton, with a mere windmill and a single tree being the defining features of where the town centre is today. It was with the enclosure of the area in 1814 that the first permanent modern settlements started to be built. Several buildings from this era still stand today, such as the Trinity Baptist Chapel (1868 ) as well as Christ Church (1877).

However, it was then still considered an extension of its southeastern neighbour, being called Bexley New Town until the railway reached the area in 1895. Upon the railway’s electrification in the mid-1920s, the area began to boom and take the shape it maintains until today.

Neal Lawson attended Bexley College in the 80s, but even before then had been actively involved in politics, joining the Labour Party at the age of 16. He started his career in the Transport and General Workers Union before becoming Gordon Brown’s advisor and speech writer. Since selling his shares in LLM Communications in 2004 he has been a full-time political commentator, writing for The Guardian and the New Statesman, amongst other notable publications.

Samuel Strickland, a local miller in the 19th century, allegedly built a house mounted on wheels, so that he would not have to pay rates on it. Amongst the first representatives of the Bexley Local Board, as well as a nearly promoter of the suburb, was Alfred Bean, who brought the railways to Bexleyheath via the Bexleyheath Railway Company. It might have been a little self-serving, however – he had a 582-acre estate in the area, and was a chairman of the railway company.

East Rochester Way is a major thoroughfare in the southeast, and this brings traffic into the area. At the same time, there is a dearth of railway lines through the area, being either to the north or south of this part of Bexleyheath, which limits commuting options.

In early 2017, Bexley Council drafted a growth strategy for the borough as a whole. Bexleyheath is noted in the plan to remain the borough’s strategic shopping and civic centre and ‘the hub of its bus network, enabling a thriving and diverse daytime and night-time economy.’ Bexleyheath is envisaged to profit from over 1,500 new homes and 1,500 new jobs. Cardamom Court, built by McCarthy and Stone and completed in 2017, is a new retirement residential development in Bexleyheath. The 50-unit development has direct access to the High Street via a secure entrance. Developer Bellway London also has an ongoing development in the area, Eastside Quarter, comprising a range of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments, which are regenerating the brownfield site that once housed Bexley Council’s Civic Centre. By the end of 2021, 218 of the 518 homes were completed and out of the 400 apartments for private sale within the development, more than half have already been purchased. From May 2021 to October 2022, Bexley Council established their High Streets for All Programme, securing funding from the Mayor of London’s High Streets for All Challenge, to develop and enact a new vision for Bexleyheath Town Centre.