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Lessness Heath is a district in the London Borough of Bexley, in the area of Belvedere.
Lessness was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, as the largest settlement in the Hundred of Litlelee in Kent and contained 68 households at that time.
The name of Lessness Heath has changed over the centuries. It was recorded as Leosne in the mid 11th century, Lesneis and Loisnes in 1086 in the Domesday Book, Hlosness in the late 11th century and Lesnes in 1194. At around 1762, Emanuel Bowen recorded the place as Leesing on one of his maps, then in 1805 an Ordnance Survey map recorded it as Lesness Heath. It has been suggested the name may be from an Old English word hleosne, the plural of hleosn meaning 'Burial mound' or 'shelter', later possibly adding the word næss meaning 'headland' to the end.
Lessness Heath gave its name to the ancient hundred, the Hundred of Lessness, and was the meeting place for residents of the hundred to discuss matters. In 1178, the Abbey of St Mary and St Thomas the Martyr at Lesnes, Lesnes Abbey, was founded near Lessness Heath and named after it.

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In the early nineteenth century boxing matches took place at the Old Tiger's Head. Horse racing and (human) foot racing took place in the 1840s but the police put a stop to these events, probably under pressure from local citizens. At that time the green was the centre of village life with cricket matches, bare knuckle boxing and other entertainments. In the 1850s further house-building prompted the installation of proper sewers and the Lee Green horse pond was filled in. In the 1860s John Pound, a developer, erected houses in the south-east quadrant, Orchard Terrace on Eltham Road and Crown Terrace on Burnt Ash Lane (now Road).

The opening of Lee station in 1866 prompted more house-building at the crossroads. The site of Lee Green Farm was built on as Carston Mews. In the same year Charles Henry Reed, a linen draper, moves into 1 Orchard Terrace and established a department store. Reed died in 1895 and in 1903 the business was taken over by Griffith & Co.

In the south-west quadrant the Prince Arthur pub was built at 422 Lee High Road in 1870 (closed 2005). It was originally one of a row of early nineteenth century cottages of which three - nos 424-428 - survived behind modern shop fronts. In 1898 No 345 Lee High Road was built in front of the former Old Tiger's Head stables. It incorporated a fire station but the London County Council built a replacement in 1906 in Eltham Road. It is still in use. A police station was built at 418 Lee High Road in 1904, replacing one built before 1860. It was converted to apartments in 2003.

In the early 1960s the south-east quadrant, including Carston Mews, was demolished to make way for Leegate shopping centre which went into decline following the opening of Sainsbury's on the opposite side of Burnt Ash Road in the late 1980s. Owners of the centre, St. Modwen Properties have recently proposed a regeneration plan for the centre, including the demolition of the current shopping precinct to be replaced with an Asda supermarket as well as the conversion of the existing office block into a hotel.

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