The world amateur premiere was performed at the Erith Playhouse in Erith, Kent, in June 1977, and was attended by members of the London production team.

Erith was one of these villages, and has a Saxon name, thought to have been derived from a word meaning ` muddy harbour ' or ` gravelly landing place '.

The early settlement was based around this church, meaning that the centre of Erith was once west of its current location.

In 1315, a Royal Charter was granted for a market to be held in Erith every Thursday.

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 in the town.

At that time, and until the 19th Century, Erith was a popular anchorage.

In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, the Erith Municipal Borough was abolished and its area transferred to Greater London to form part of the present-day London Borough of Bexley.

Erith Iron Works was established in 1864 in Anchor Bay by William Anderson.

From 1881 Erith was home to a large cable works founded by William Callender.

During the First World War Erith was an extremely important area for the manufacture of guns and ammunition, largely due to the presence of the large Vickers works in the Fraser Road area.

A new swimming pool was recently built adjoining the sports centre and the David Ives Stadium, which is home to Bexley Athletic Club and Erith Town F. C.

The Erith Symphony Orchestra ceased to exist in 1972 and it was almost 30 years before another orchestra was heard in the town, when the Dartford-based, Orchestra of the Thames Gateway gave a concert there in 2004 and in subsequent years.

It was then cut in two by the building of the A2016 a 4 lane dual carriageway by-pass of the Woolwich to Erith section of the A206 though on leaving Woolwich only got as far as the industrial part of lower Belvedere ( the extension to Erith was opened in 1999 ).

The London Borough of Bexley was formed in 1965, under the London Government Act 1963 from the Municipal Boroughs of Bexley and Erith ; Crayford Urban District: and part of Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District.

After the 2005 General Election, Erith and Thamesmead is represented by a Labour Party MP while the remaining two seats were held by the Conservative Party ; although on 29 January 2008 the Conservative Party whip was withdrawn from Old Bexley and Sidcup's MP Derek Conway following alleged misuse of funds, leaving him as an Independent MP.

Thamesmead, the " new town " built on what was the Erith Marshes, extends into the Borough: both Thamesmead North and South are located here.

The ridge of higher ground in South London crosses the Borough from its high point of Shooters Hill, on the boundary with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, to end above the River Thames at Belvedere, where the land drops down to the old port of Erith.

Among the former are Erith, in the 17th century a port on the Thames, and an industrial town in the later 19th century ; Bexleyheath, created at the same time on the London to Dover road.

Erith is a district of southeast London on the River Thames.

In 1797 Edward Hasted described Erith as ' consisting of one small street of houses, which leads to the water side ', and mentions two annual fairs, on Ascension Day and Michaelmas Day.

In 1996, the two sites of Erith School, the East and West buildings, merged onto one site on Avenue Road.

The regeneration of the area falls within the remit of the Thames Gateway project, with Erith being a key focus for Bexley Council as its only population centre on the River Thames.

In the Second World War, Erith found itself in the thick of the conflict, being directly on the German bombing routes from Europe to London, and also because of the nearby armament factories.

Erith is home to the longest pier in London, on the River Thames.

Erith Rowing Club is a successful and friendly club located in former police premises on the waterfront, accessed from Erith High Street.

Downstream, Erith Yacht Club is very active in both competitive and social sailing, based on the edge of Crayford Marshes with consent for a new clubhouse.

The initial broadcasts of pirate radio station West and North Kent Radio ( WNKR ) took place at Norvic House, Larner Road, Erith, during the bank holiday weekend in August 1987, on a frequency of 91. 8FM.

Erith is in the Bexley and Bromley London Assembly constituency and is represented on the London Assembly by James Cleverly ( Conservative ).

Control of ship traffic on the Thames within the Port is orchestrated from two Port Control centres-one at the Thames Barrier ( the Thames Barrier Navigation Centre ) in Woolwich, for reaches upstream of Erith, and the other at Gravesend ( the main Port Control ) for reaches downstream of Erith.

The scheme involved major pumping stations at Deptford ( 1864 ) and at Crossness ( 1865 ) on the Erith marshes, both on the south side of the Thames, and at Abbey Mills ( in the River Lea valley, 1868 ) and on the Chelsea Embankment ( close to Grosvenor Bridge ; 1875 ), north of the river.

Celia Fiennes, who in 1697 proceeded out of London along the Dover Road, wrote in her diary of stopping at " Shuttershill, on top of which hill you see a vast prospect ... some lands clothed with trees, others with grass and flowers, gardens, orchards, with all sorts of herbage and tillage, with severall little towns all by the river, Erith, Leigh, Woolwich etc., quite up to London, Greenwich, Deptford, Black Wall, the Thames twisting and turning it self up and down bearing severall vessells and men of warre on it ".

Bexleyheath has drawn a lot of custom to match the expansion in retail space from residents of towns in the borough, particularly from Erith and Thamesmead which have expanded in size with development along the River Thames.

On its way from Erith to Old Bexley, the " London LOOP " walk follows the River Cray across the Crayford Marshes and through the town centre.

The land falls away to the north of the high ground, across the Erith Marshes to the River Thames, which here makes a loop to the north at Crossness.

The Borough owns and maintains over one hundred parks and open spaces, large and small ; and there is still a part of the Erith Marshes bordering the River Thames.

Three walking routes pass Hall Place, the local council-sponsored Shuttle River Way and Cray River Way and the Mayor of London's " London LOOP " walk, which, shortly after its start at Erith, follows the Cray River Way from Crayford to Foots Cray.

To the south there was a short boundary with Erith in the Lessness hundred of Kent, formed by the River Thames.

The walk begins at Erith on the south bank of the River Thames and passes clockwise through Crayford, Petts Wood, Coulsdon, Kingston upon Thames, Uxbridge, Elstree, Cockfosters, Chingford and Upminster Bridge before ending at Purfleet, almost directly across the Thames from its starting point.

Madocks ' ideas on communities with a sense of purpose were shaped at this time by his brother's building of a house at Erith, where he also saw the benefits of reclaimed land, in this case former marshes by the River Thames.

It is situated in the London Borough of Bexley, close to the southern bank of the River Thames, to the east of Thamesmead, west of Belvedere and north-west of Erith.

Chislehurst is one of the starting points for the Green Chain Walk, linking to places such as Crystal Palace, Erith, the Thames Barrier and Thamesmead.

The park is one of the starting points for the Green Chain Walk, linking to places such as Chislehurst, Erith, the Thames Barrier and Thamesmead.

Since the late 1990s Erith has been undergoing significant changes with the Erith Western Thames Gateway project being the culmination of a number of years of regeneration.

The annual Erith Riverside Festival has been held for a number of years in Riverside Gardens alongside the Thames.