BEXLEY Local Studies and Archive Centre is inviting people to learn more about one of the borough's most historic buildings.

Archivist Oliver Wooler will be giving a talk on Hall Place in the 20th Century.

Since the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Hall Place has been a home to a mistress of King Edward VII, a lord and an Irish countess.

Bexley Council took over the building in 1935 and it has had many uses since then, from a secret American military base to part of a girls' school.

The talk, on February 8 at 7.30pm, will be illustrated with previously- unpublished slides, which may back up the many wild rumours and unconfirmed facts which surround the building.

These include the Austrian baron, a past resident with suspect plans to build a tunnel under the English Channel at a time when German spies were rife in England, and the ghost of a butler which is said to haunt the staircase.

The tickets, which cost £4, are available from Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre, Central Library, Townley Road, Bexleyheath, or by calling 020 8836 7470.