Albany Park, Bexley
| Albany Park | |
|---|---|
 Road in Albany Park |
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 Albany Park
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| Albany Park shown within Greater London | |
| OS grid reference | TQ478728 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BEXLEY |
| Postcode district | DA5 |
| Post town | SIDCUP |
| Postcode district | DA14 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Albany Park is a suburban area located in the London Borough of Bexley, part of south-east London in England. Located midway between Sidcup and Bexley, Albany Park is situated on high ground overlooking the valleys of the River Cray and the River Shuttle.
Originally a rural area used as farmland, the settlement was established by a commercial housing developer, New Ideal Homesteads, during the 1930s. They built two estates at the site, Albany Park Estate and Royal Park Estate, which were sold at cheap prices to working-class families emigrating from Inner London. The company also brought about the foundation of Albany Park railway station in 1935, providing transport links to the estates along the Dartford Loop Line. Following decades saw a number of schools and both a Baptist church hall and an Anglican church constructed in the area, the latter of which has attracted attention for its architectural innovation.
During the 1930s, New Ideal Homesteads were the largest commercial developer active in Northwest Kent, known for keeping costs at a minimum by using prefabricated materials. They built the Albany Park estate in the middle of that decade, on land that had formerly been the Tanyard and Hurst Farms, part of the estate of the Vansittart family who lived at nearby Foots Cray. Most of the area had consisted of fields and spinneys, although nearby there was both an eighteenth-century mansion known as Hurst or Hurst Place, and Sidcup cemetery, which had been established in 1912.
The company invented the name "Albany Park" for the housing estate that they were constructing. They built at almost double the housing density that had been recommended to them by the local Bexley council, and sold their houses at low prices, enabling them to be purchased by working-class families leaving Inner London. The estate was adjacent to the Dartford Loop Line, which had existed 1866, although NIH ensured that Albany Park railway station was opened on this line in July 1935. Next to this station were built a number of shops and the Mock Tudor Albany Hotel. Just prior to the Second World War, NIH began expanding the settlement in a south-eastward direction by beginning to build the Royal Park Estate; it was finished after the war by Bexley Borough Council.
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