Crossness

Crossness
Kent
Crossness Lighthouse
Location
Grid reference:	TQ484809
Location:	51°30’30"N, -0°8’18"E
Data
Dialling code:	020
Local Government
Council:	Bexley

Crossness is a village on the south shore of the River Thames in the north of Kent. It is to the east of Thamesmead, west of Belvedere and north-west of Erith. The place takes its name from Cross Ness, a specific promontory on the southern bank of the River Thames. In maritime terms, the tip of Cross Ness, in the past referred to as 'Leather Bottle Point', marks the boundary between Barking Reach and Halfway Reach. An unmanned lighthouse on Crossness is a navigational aid to shipping.

Sewer

Crossness is the location of the Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, which includes the historic Victorian Crossness Pumping Station, built at the eastern end of the Southern Outfall Sewer as part of the London sewerage system designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette and constructed between 1859 and 1865.

Lighthouse

Crossness lighthouse is a steel lattice structure. The light is at an elevation of 41 feet and gives a white 5-second flash visible for 8 miles. In 2024, the Port of London Authority consulted on replacement of the lattice structure with a light on a drop-down mast.

Access and recreation

Crossness Nature Reserve is east of the sewage works.

The Ridgeway path, owned by Thames Water and built on top of the Southern Outfall Sewer, stretches three miles between Plumstead railway station and the Crossness sewage treatment works. The nearest station to Crossness is Abbey Wood, almost two miles away.

The Thames Path Extension - from the Thames Barrier to Crayford Ness - runs along the southern bank of the river through Crossness.