Editing Erith (section)

===Medieval===
[[File:Western Face of the Church of St John the Baptist, Erith (01).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|The medieval Church of John the Baptist in Erith]]
The earliest written reference to the area is in a Latin charter of 695, recording a grant by the Bishop of the East Saxons of land at Erith. The surrounding area was known as Lesnes or Lessness, which is mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086. After the [[Norman Conquest]], Lessness passed into the possession of [[Bishop Odo]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bexley Area in the Domesday Book |url=http://www.bexley.gov.uk/article/10263/The-Bexley-Area-in-the-Domesday-Book |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701040926/http://www.bexley.gov.uk/article/10263/The-Bexley-Area-in-the-Domesday-Book |archive-date=1 July 2016 |access-date=11 February 2017 |website=Bexley borough council |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 1315, a [[Royal Charter]] was granted for a market to be held in Erith every Thursday, but it was noted in 1776 that the market was long discontinued.<ref name="market">[http://www.bexley.gov.uk/localstudies/local_history/guide_pdfs/51_historical_references_to_erith_market.pdf Bexley Local Studies Note 51 – Historical References to Erith Market]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} Accessed 6 June 2008.</ref>

Erith owes its existence to the Thames, and was until the 1850s essentially a small riverside port, given prominence by [[King Henry VIII]]'s decision to open a naval dockyard there, approximately where the Riverside Gardens are now. Henry's famous warship, ''[[Henri Grace à Dieu]]'', was fitted out there in 1515.<ref name="erithhistory">{{Cite web |title=History of Erith &#124; History of Bexley and Districts |url=http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bexley/assets/histories/erith |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715181811/http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bexley/assets/histories/erith |archive-date=15 July 2018 |access-date=24 August 2012 |publisher=Ideal Homes}}</ref>

After the death of [[George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury]] in 1538, Erith "alias Lysnes" was granted to his widow, Elizabeth, by Henry VIII "with all its members and appurtenances, to hold in capite, by knight's service."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hasted |first=Edward |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol2/pp227-263 |title=The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent |publisher=W. Bristow |year=1797 |location=Canterbury |pages=227–263 |author-link=Edward Hasted |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102173932/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol2/pp227-263 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Erith remained a popular anchorage until the 19th century. Ships often discharged cargo there to reduce their [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]] before entering shallows upstream.