Erith Town Hall

Crossness Nature Reserve

Belvedere · 1.9 miles

Covering 25.5 hectares on the historic Thames floodplain, Crossness Nature Reserve lies in the Crossness area of the London Borough of Bexley, close to Belvedere. The site forms part of the Erith Marshes Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation and represents one of the few remaining grazing marshes in London. Its landscape includes the borough’s largest reedbeds, a network of ponds and ditches, scrub and rough grassland. Recorded wildlife comprises around 130 bird species, a notable water-vole population, several rare invertebrates such as five water-beetle species and the nationally scarce Shrill Carder bee, together with plants like Borrer’s saltmarsh grass and frog rush, which was once thought extinct in Kent. The reserve was created in 1994 under a Section 106 planning agreement and is owned and managed by Thames Water, with day-to-day stewardship provided by the RSPB. A Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve group assists with the care of protected zones that are not publicly accessible. The western perimeter abuts the Crossness Sewage Treatment Works and the northern edge borders a Cory-operated waste-management facility. Between 2005 and 2011 the Belvedere Green Links project invested one million pounds in restoring the southern marsh and related infrastructure, funded by the Homes & Communities Agency, the European Regional Development Fund and the Greater London Authority, with Bexley Council as a key stakeholder. In the early 2020s a proposal by Cory for a carbon-capture installation covering roughly 11 % of the reserve was approved in November 2025 despite local opposition.

Crossness Pumping Station

Belvedere · 2.5 miles

A rare example of Victorian engineering, the former Crossness Pumping Station stands at the eastern terminus of the Southern Outfall Sewer within the Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, alongside the Ridgeway path in the London Borough of Bexley, close to Belvedere. Designed by architect Charles Henry Driver for the Metropolitan Board of Works under chief engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the complex was built between 1859 and 1865 by William Webster. Its ornamental cast-ironwork attracted the description of Nikolaus Pevsner as a “masterpiece of engineering – a Victorian cathedral of ironwork”. The station was decommissioned in 1956, later listed at Grade I and placed on the Heritage at Risk Register. Visitors can view the four massive steam-driven beam engines—Victoria, Prince Consort, Albert Edward and Alexandra—originally supplied by James Watt & Co. The engines, each equipped with 52-ton flywheels and 47-ton beams, are among the largest surviving rotative beam engines worldwide. The Crossness Engines Trust, which operates the site as a museum, runs the restored Prince Consort engine on open days, allowing a glimpse of the 11-revolution-per-minute operation that once lifted 6 tons of sewage per stroke. Adjacent Erith Marshes and the northern Crossness Nature Reserve provide a habitat for moths, small amphibians and water voles, adding an ecological dimension to the industrial heritage. Admission is subject to a charge and opening times are published by the Crossness Engines Trust. The museum is managed by the Crossness Engines Trust, a registered charity responsible for the ongoing restoration and public presentation of the historic complex.

Winns Common

Plumstead · 3.7 miles

Set within the suburb of Plumstead in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Winn's Common provides a public open space that has been shaped by centuries of human activity. Archaeological evidence points to settlement by ancient Britons, and the area once contained several Bronze Age burial mounds together with Roman artefacts; a surviving tumulus, known as the Winn's Common Tumulus, remains visible today. During the Second World War the common hosted a line of barrage balloons intended to protect the nearby Royal Arsenal at Woolwich from aerial attack. Across Kings Highway a memorial to George Webb, former headmaster of Burrage Grove Boys School in 1896, marks the site of a former drinking fountain whose fittings have since been removed. After the war, prefabricated houses were erected on the common to accommodate displaced residents; these structures were cleared in the late 1950s and the land was replanted as open ground with football pitches. An old hut at the north end, adjacent to Kings Highway, continues to serve as a changing-room facility, equipped with a tin trough and cold taps. Access to Winn's Common is unrestricted, and visitors can make use of the pitches and the modest changing amenities.

Ingrebourne Marshes SSSI

South Hornchurch · 3.7 miles

The largest stretch of freshwater marsh within Greater London extends along both banks of the River Ingrebourne in Hornchurch, forming a 74.8-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, the site contains extensive reed sweet-grass, common reed swamp, wet neutral grassland and tall fen, supporting a notable range of invertebrates and breeding birds. Sixteen nationally scarce species of flies, beetles, dragonflies and crickets have been recorded, together with two Red Data Book species – the hoverfly *Anasimyia interpuncta* and the scarce emerald damselfly *Lestes dryas*. Sixty-one bird species breed regularly, including common redshank, northern lapwing and reed-warbler, while common cuckoos are known to parasitise reed-warbler and sedge-warbler nests. Havering Council has intervened by raising water levels and re-introducing grazing to maintain the wetland’s condition. Public entry is limited to the eastern strip that runs from the river to Berwick Pond Road, where the reservoir at Berwick Pond is open for fishing and can be viewed from Hornchurch Country Park. The remainder of the marshes is largely closed to visitors, although sections are observable from the park’s perimeter. Access points are provided from Hornchurch Country Park and from Berwick Pond Road; no admission charge is mentioned, and facilities are confined to the existing park infrastructure.

Plumstead Common

Plumstead · 4.3 miles

Plumstead Common provides a sizeable green space within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, positioned just south of the town of Plumstead. The park is bounded to the north by Old Mill Road, to the south by Plumstead Common Road and abuts Winn’s Common on its eastern side. Within its grounds, deposits of puddingstone – a conglomerate rock formed around 60 million years ago during a warm period – can be observed, a geological feature otherwise more typical of Hertfordshire. The site also incorporates the remains of an old mill, now part of a public house that bears the same name, and the former Prince of Wales pub stands on the south-west corner, while Plumstead Manor School lies nearby. First recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Plumstede”, the area originally referred to a place where plums grew. Throughout the nineteenth century, increasing pressure from housing development linked to the Royal Arsenal led to the sale of common land, prompting local protests in 1876 that culminated in the Plumstead Common Act of 1878, which secured one hundred acres as permanent public open space. The common also hosted the early matches of Royal Arsenal Football Club. Today, it serves as the venue for community events such as the Plumstead Make Merry festival – noted as the longest-running local festival in the borough – and the popular Asian Mela, often likened to an “Asian Notting Hill Carnival”. Access is via the surrounding roads, and as a public park it remains freely available for recreation and sport.

Beam Valley Country Park

Dagenham · 4.3 miles

Spanning 74 hectares, Beam Valley Country Park lies in Dagenham within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, bordering the River Beam and the Wantz Stream. The site is split between two Local Nature Reserves: the main Beam Valley area and a narrow strip south of Western Avenue that falls under the Environment Agency’s remit. Both sections are also recognised as Grade 1 Sites of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, one positioned north and the other south of South Dagenham Road. Visitors encounter a mosaic of habitats, including mixed woodland, open grassland, and the remnants of former gravel pits that give the landscape a varied character. The ground that now hosts the park was once derelict, yet archaeological traces reveal human activity back to the Stone Age and a Roman pottery kiln, indicating long-term use of the area. A range of birdlife inhabits the waterways and surrounding scrub, with species such as kingfishers, reed warblers, reed buntings and skylarks regularly recorded. In 2014 a pedestrian and cycling bridge, erected by Sustrans, linked Beam Valley to the neighbouring Bretons Manor across the River Beam, improving access for walkers and cyclists. The nearest town is Dagenham, and the park is reachable via local road networks that skirt the River Beam. Admission is not specified, and facilities are not detailed in the available material.