Editing Welling (section)

==History==
=== Early history ===
[[File:Southern Face of the Greek Orthodox Church of Christ the Saviour, Welling (I).jpg|thumb|left|The medieval church in Welling, now used by a Greek Orthodox congregation]]
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.{{specify|date=November 2016}}

Before opening of the [[Bexleyheath Line]] on 1 May 1895,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Bexleyheath Railway|url=http://www.bexley.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10666|website=bexley.gov.uk|access-date=8 January 2017}}</ref> 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.{{specify|date=November 2016}}

=== 20th century ===
After [[World War I]], [[Municipal Borough of Bexley|Bexley Urban District Council]] built over 400 houses north of the railway. Later, when the [[Danson House|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/33/contents|title=London Government Act 1963|website=www.legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>

For five years after 1990, the headquarters of the far-right [[British National Party]] (formed in 1982) were based in Welling.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Politico's Guide to the History of British Political Parties|last=Boothroyd|first=David|year=2001|publisher=Politico's|isbn=1-902301-59-5|page=22}}</ref> The area became the scene of anti-racist [[1993 Welling riots|riots in 1993]]. Bexley Council shut down the BNP Headquarters in 1995.<ref name=bnpclosed>Saggar, Shamit (1998). Race and British electoral politics. Routledge. {{ISBN|1-85728-830-0}}.</ref>

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.{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}} In 1995 it started operation as a local grant giving charity called the East Wickham & Welling War Memorial Trust[1] 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 London Borough Council|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f214a940-bc98-11db-9cbc-0000779e2340.html#axzz1JjRobGBY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/652Go |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Financial Times "Rank to close nine Mecca clubs"|last=Warwick|first=Lucy|date=15 February 2007|publisher=Ft.com|access-date=6 March 2014}}</ref> This large building, which originally was an Odeon cinema is operating now as Freedom Centre International, a Pentecostal Church.