The
manor of Erith passed through the hands of several noble families, as
well crown hands, throughout the middle ages. In the Georgian period
the manor came into the ownership of William Wheatley, who built a new
manor house on the lands. The East India ships, coming up the Thames,
often put to anchor at Erith, which meant that the small town profited
from trading with the seamen. The ancient church at Erith was dedicated
to St John the Baptist. Its spire contained six bells. In the medieval
period the town held weekly market fairs, but these had long been discontinued
by the late eighteenth century.
