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The reason why Bromley and Bexley are in London and not Kent

05:00, 30 May 2023

updated: 17:18, 30 May 2023

There can’t be many places in the country where people don’t actually know where they live.

But on Kent’s borders are two such locations – namely the London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley.

The great Bromley-Bexley debate
The great Bromley-Bexley debate

You’d think the clue would lie in the fact the title ‘London’, is part of their name, but you’d be wrong.

Not a week goes by without KentOnline being contacted by someone mistakenly thinking they’re from the Garden of England and not the capital.

Usually, these calls come from places like Orpington, Erith, Chislehurst and Bromley and everything goes fine until you point out that they’re not actually in Kent.

At this point, all hell breaks loose as they’ve been telling people this fact all of their lives – protesting that they have Kent postcodes and BT area codes.

But where does this misunderstanding come from? Well, you have to travel back through the mists of time 58 years.

Heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali defeated Sonny Liston, Ed White became the first American to walk in space and the Local Government Act 1965 came into being.

Vast swathes of Kent moved into London with the creation of Bromley and Bexley boroughs.

Keen to see how many residents are unsure of where they live, we sent reporters Amy Tregenna and Charlotte Phillips out in Bromley High Street and Bexley village.

They asked unsuspecting shoppers: do you live in Kent or London? Where would you rather live out of the two? And do you know how the boroughs ended up in the capital?

Somer Templeton, 24, lives in Pontefract Road, Bromley
Somer Templeton, 24, lives in Pontefract Road, Bromley
Lisa McKenna, 46, lives in Lebanon Gardens, Biggin Hill
Lisa McKenna, 46, lives in Lebanon Gardens, Biggin Hill
Shop worker India Smith, 19,
Shop worker India Smith, 19,

First up was Somer Templeton, 24, of Pontefract Road, Bromley, who said: “I’d say Kent but I think I'd prefer it if I lived in London. I’ve no idea about the move, I've always thought I lived in Kent. I had no idea it was London.”

Shop worker India Smith, 19, of New Street Hill, Bromley, said: “I know we're technically on the outskirts of London, but I would say I live in Kent. I’d definitely prefer London so that we'd get London weighting and be paid more. I don't know the history.”

Another retail worker is Lisa McKenna, 46, who said: “I live in Biggin Hill so consider myself to live in Kent (it’s definetly in London). I probably prefer to be from London. I’m not sure of the background.”

Nine miles down the road in Bexley Village, admin worker Anita Angelo, 60, of Ingleton Avenue, Welling, was split – saying: “I think Bexley is both London and Kent, it’s got the benefits from both. I would prefer it to be in London for the benefits like transport, because Kent feels like the countryside to me. I knew Bexley was in Greater London but I don’t know much about how it changed.”

Graham Pilkington owns Pilkington's Jewellers on the High Street and says Bexley is a Kent village
Graham Pilkington owns Pilkington's Jewellers on the High Street and says Bexley is a Kent village
Anita Angelo from Welling says Bexley is in both Kent and London
Anita Angelo from Welling says Bexley is in both Kent and London
Del Duffy is a slimming world consultant in Bexley and says it is in London
Del Duffy is a slimming world consultant in Bexley and says it is in London

Graham Pilkington, 72, owns Pilkington Jewellers in Bexley High Street, having been there since February 1985.

Growing up in Bexleyheath and now living in Kemnal Road, Chislehurst, he said: “Bexley Village is a Kent village. Bexleyheath has always been a town but Bexley is a Kent village to me, and so is Chislehurst.

“I’d rather it be Kent than London, because the Mayor of London is trying to ruin the village. Business is tough enough at the moment. Bexley has been a London borough since the 1960s, and the borough gets its name from this village.”

While Slimming World consultant Del Duffy, who is in her 60s and from Denton Terrace, Bexley, said: “I consider it to be London, I didn’t realise it was ever in Kent. My voting ward is in Dartford and I am right on the edge, but I do consider myself to live in London and all of my work is in Bexley. I would rather live in London, as there are more benefits."

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