Editing Keston (section)

==History==

[[File:Keston Roman Mausoleum as seen from the West.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|One of the tombs at the Roman [[Mausoleum]] in Keston]]

Flint implements and pit dwellings on Keston and Hayes Commons show occupation of the area back to at least 3000&nbsp;BCE, and there are [[Iron Age]] encampments in Holwood Park and on Keston Common.<ref>John Newman, Buildings of England, West Kent and the Weald</ref>

In the valley below the village are the ruins of a complex of 3rd century AD [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] tombs and mausolea ({{coord|51.3511068|0.0299549|format=dms|type:landmark|display=inline}}) connected with the nearby 1st - 4th century AD [[Keston Roman villa|Roman villa]] excavated 1967-1992 ({{coord|51.3506679|0.0287962|format=dms|type:landmark|display=inline}}).<ref>Council for Kentish Archaeology http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/kestonpage.htm</ref><ref name="Willey">{{cite book |last1=Willey |first1=Russ |title=The London Gazzetteer |date=2006 |publisher=Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd |page=273}}</ref>

Sited closer to the original Keston Court than the main village itself, Keston's small medieval church is unusual in that does not have a dedication to a saint; but built into the altar-table is the top of the 17th-century altar inlaid with a very elaborate cross and inscribed "The Keston Marke: [[In hoc signo vinces|IN HOC SIGNO VINCES]]", so the parish has a distinctive symbol instead.<ref>Guidebook to Keston Parish Church, 1974</ref>

The slavery [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolitionist]]  [[William Wilberforce]] was a frequent visitor to the area as his close friend, the Prime Minister [[William Pitt the Younger]], lived at [[Holwood House|Holwood Park]]. It was on top of the vale of Keston near to an oak tree that he discussed the abolition of slavery with his friend, Pitt. Only the partial dead remains of the 'Wilberforce oak' are left, but a new oak tree has been planted in its place. A stone bench, 'Wilberforce seat', commemorating the event, now marks the spot and bears the inscription from his diary "Just above a steep descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice ... in the House of Commons of my intention to bring forward the abolition of the Slave Trade."

Holwood  was described in Pitt's time as " a small, neat, white building; it is more simple than elegant".<ref>{{cite book |title= An Accurate Description of Bromley in Kent|last=Wilson |first=Thomas  |year=1797 |page=68  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3pbAAAAQAAJ |access-date=25 July 2011}}</ref> Pitt engaged [[John Soane]] to enlarge the house and [[Humphry Repton]] to improve the grounds. Soane's house burnt down, and was rebuilt in 1823-6 for John Ward in a Grecian style by [[Decimus Burton]]. The new house was on a larger scale than Pitt's, in white brick and [[Portland stone]].<ref name=boe>{{cite book |last1=Cherry |first1= Bridget |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus   |title=London 2: South  |series=The Buildings of England |year=1990  |orig-year=1983 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-071047-7  |page= 187}}</ref> Later owners included [[Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth|Lord Chancellor Cranworth]], the [[Earl of Derby]], and Seismograph Service Ltd.

[[File:The Wilberforce Seat at Keston Common.jpg|thumb|right|The Wilberforce Seat]]
The [[Keston Institute]], now at [[Oxford]], was so named because for some years from the early 1970s it was located (as Keston College) in the former parish school on [[Keston Common]].<ref>Keston Institute website, http://www.keston.org.uk/</ref> Its archive is at the Keston Centre for Religion Politics and Society at [[Baylor University]], [[Texas]], so the parish's name has spread surprisingly far.

There was historically a small hamlet situated to the north-east of Keston village, at the junction of Croydon Road and Westerham Road/Oakley Road; it was called Keston Mark as it lay on the border ('march' or 'mark') of Keston proper.<ref name="Willey"/> This area was more heavily developed in the 20th century, and it now effectively forms a suburban continuation of [[Locksbottom]] and [[Bromley Common]].<ref name="Willey"/>