Keston Village - a walking tour
Click on the thumbnail images below for larger, more detailed images.
Hayes Common and the Greyhound Inn   Greyhound Inn on Commonside   Hayes Common at Commonside
The parking lot on Commonside, close to the Greyhound Inn, makes a good starting point for a walk around the village to view the sights. Left (1) we see the Greyhound Inn behind the cars parked on Commonside. In this photo, the Fox Inn is straight ahead and to the right of the picture is the drinking fountain. Centre (2), the Greyhound Inn looks out over the southernmost tip of Hayes Common. Right (3), opposite the Greyhound and looking north is a swatch of grass and the drinking fountain.
Fox Inn and Keston Post Office   Heathfield Road looking south
The Fox Inn (4) stands at the top of Fox Hill - a very steep climb up from the Vale of Keston and a real killer at the end of a cross country race before that final sprint back across the common to the start/finish line. How often did we wish we could stop off for a pint as we passed by on a cold and dreary winter's  afternoon! The Keston Post Office is beside the Fox Inn and just to the right of centre of this photo (right - 5). The main road past the Fox Inn and the Post Office is Heathfield Road. We can walk south along Heathfield Road to the first turning on the left which leads us past the school and onto the common beyond the village.
Lower pond at Keston Here we come to the first, or lowest, of the ponds (6) which is frequented less often, probably because it is not as close to the car parking area and so is not as evident as the other two ponds.

Middle pond - east bank Middle pond - west bank Middle pond from SW bank

Continuing south we reach the middle pond. Left (7), we see the east bank of the middle pond from the roadway that divides the middle pond from the lower one. Centre (8), the west bank of the middle pond is equally picturesque, and (right - 9) the scene from the south west gives some idea of the proliferation of water lilies, although they do not seem to be flowering very well in 1998! Some other photos of Keston Ponds by Adanor Photography can be found here.
Upper pond - north bank Upper pond from SW  
Continuing our walk in a southerly direction we reach the upper pond
where (left -10) we see a fisherman trying his luck. The upper pond looks very tranquil from the southwest shoreline (centre - 11). At the southern end of the upper pond we come across Ceasar's Well (12), the spring source for the ponds and thence the Ravensbourne River that flows, eventually, into the Thames.

Continuing south and crossing the main Bromley/Westerham road we are able to enter a footpath that skirts the Holwood House estate and it is here that we find the Wilberforce seat and oak (13). Wilberforce seat The inscription on the seat reads: "From Mr Wilberforce's diary, 1788, 'At length, I well remember after a conversation with Mr Pitt in the open air at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just above the steep descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice on a fit occasion in the House of Commons of my intention to bring forward the abolition of the slave trade'" .
As the inscription says, the seat looks out over the Vale of Keston. Vale of Keston from Wilberforce seat
Although the remnants of the bole of the old oak tree are just visible in the photo (14 - right of centre), the young oak that was planted in the bole has yet to rise above the other weeds and underbrush surrounding it.
 

Keston Church - west side Keston Church - east side
From the Wilberforce oak it is a  short walk down to the church below. The church dates from about 1250 A.D., but evidence has been found of a church on the same site from earlier periods. This view (left - 15) from the south west shows (on the left) the corridor into a new church hall that was added as recently as the 1990's. Every attempt has been made to ensure that the building materials are in keeping with the original. Passing around the church we can see it from the north (right - 16) where the main door looks out towards Westerham Road.

From the church it is an easy walk back along Westerham Road and down Heathfield Road to reach the Old Mill (17). Some other photos of the mill may be found at Helen Stephenson's web site. Keston Old Mill This, of course, is the mill that was used as the original Keston Group logo although the actual logo itself was taken from a water colour painted from the same spot as the photo was taken by Majorie Cradduck in 1973. Fortunately she was able to use artist's license to ensure that the perspective was more acceptable than this photo. The mill has been restored in recent years, but the sails were not touched and, compared to Majorie Cradduck's painting, it is easy to see the deterioration that has taken place in the last twenty or so years.

We can cross past the ponds again and head out onto Westerham Road, then north towards Bromley to reach the cross roads which were the site of the original Keston Mark - subject of the pen drawing used in The Keston Group web page header.  The Keston Mark at Westerham and Croydon Roads Here we find the modern day Keston Mark (18, 19) at the busy intersection of Westerham Road and Croydon Road.

Let's go inside and enjoy a pint after our quick tour of the village - The Keston Mark
 
 

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Ó - Copyright, The Keston Group, 1998
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Most recent revision 9-Aug-98