Welling, Bexley, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Welling is an area of South East London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Bexleyheath, 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east of Woolwich and 10.5 miles (16.9 km) of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent.

Early history The East Wickham part of Welling is probably one of the oldest settlements in this area. A Neolithic stone axe was found in East Wickham in 1910, and remains of Roman buildings were unearthed near Danson in 1989.

Before opening of the Bexleyheath Line on 1 May 1895, Welling was a village on the main road from London into Kent (Watling Street). It had been a traditional staging post for coaches; the presence of three inns along the main road is the result of that.

20th century After World War I, Bexley Urban District Council built over 400 houses north of the railway. Later, when the Danson estate was sold to developers, the land to the south was opened up to suburban sprawl and the settlement incorporated the local parishes of St Michael's East Wickham and St Johns Welling.

The area was part of the Municipal Borough of Bexley in the administrative county of Kent until, in 1965, the borough was abolished under the London Government Act 1963 and its area transferred to Greater London to form part of the present-day London Borough of Bexley.

For five years after 1990, the headquarters of the far-right British National Party (formed in 1982) were based in Welling. The area became the scene of anti-racist riots in 1993. Bexley Council shut down the BNP Headquarters in 1995.

In 1992 a group of local people, led by local Councillor Nigel Betts, revived the old Memorial Hall Trust which was set up in 1921. In 1995 it started operation as a local grant giving charity called the East Wickham & Welling War Memorial Trust using the revenue from the old hall to fund grants in the area. Its main aim is remember the men of the district who were killed in World War One so a new War Memorial was built in 1996. Its charitable aim is to help local groups with rents on their meeting places or to help groups maintain their halls. Other grants help young people with adventurous activities and there is an annual academic bursary. In 2006 it gave grants totaling £47,000. As part of a re-investment programme, the Trust sold the Hall for a housing redevelopment in 2007.

21st century A major upgrade of paving and street lighting was completed in the autumn of 2005. The retention or removal of a section of westbound bus lane from Welling High Street became one of the few specific local issues on which the main political parties disagreed in the approach to the local Bexley Council elections held on 4 May 2006. The incoming Conservative administration immediately revoked the bus lane.

The MECCA bingo hall in Upper Wickham Lane has ceased trading, apparently one of nine in England unsuited to operate after the national ban on smoking in public places. This large building, which originally was an Odeon cinema is operating now as Freedom Centre International, a Pentecostal Church.

In March 2013 the first Micropub in Greater London opened in the High Street in a converted electrical shop – "The Door Hinge". It sells real ale by gravity stillage dispense and cider and wine only. It won CAMRA Bexley Branch Pub of the Year for 2014 and subsequently in that competition became CAMRA Greater London Regional Pub of the Year 2014.

Rail Welling station connects the area with National Rail services to London Victoria, London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street, Slade Green, Dartford and Gravesend.

Buses Welling is served by London Buses routes 51, 89, 96, 486, B15, B16 and N89. These connect it with places including Barnehurst, Bexleyheath, Blackfen, Blackheath, Bluewater, Charlton, Crayford, Dartford, Eltham, Falconwood, Kidbrooke, Lewisham, North Greenwich, Orpington, Plumstead, Shooters Hill, Sidcup, Slade Green, St Mary Cray and Woolwich.