Editing Erith (section)

===Pre-medieval===
Work carried out at the former [[British Gypsum]] site in Church Manorway by the [[Museum of London]] Archaeological Service shows that the area was covered by a dense forest of [[oak]], [[taxus|yew]] and [[alder]] in the [[Neolithic|Neolithic Period]], which by the [[Bronze Age]] had given way in part to [[poor fen|sedge fen]].<ref name="molas01">[http://www.molas.org.uk/pages/siteSummariesDetailsAll.asp?year=summaries2001 Museum of London summary of archaeological work carried out in 2001] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515074054/http://www.molas.org.uk/pages/siteSummariesDetailsAll.asp?year=summaries2001 |date=15 May 2005 }} accessed 6 April 2008</ref>

The museum's work at the former site of Erith School in Belmont Road revealed traces of prehistoric settlement and a substantial community or farmstead in the first century CE.<ref name="molas96">[http://www.molas.org.uk/pages/siteSummariesDetailsAll.asp?year=summaries1996 Museum of London summary of archaeological work carried out in 1996] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050325224515/http://www.molas.org.uk/pages/siteSummariesDetailsAll.asp?year=summaries1996 |date=25 March 2005}} Accessed 6 April 2008.</ref>