Description
Keston Common had three fishponds constructed in early C19th to provide water to Holwood House. Two of the lakes are now used for fishing. The land was previously owned by Lord Stanley who in 1926 donated the ponds and an area of the common to the parish. Near the junction of Fishponds Road and Heathfield Road is Keston War Memorial commemorating local people who died in WWI and WWII.
Practical Information
| Site location | Westerham Road/Heathfield Road/Fishponds Road, Keston |
|---|---|
| Postcode | BR2 6BU |
| What3Words | ///drive.audio.shut |
| Type of Site | Public Open Land |
| Borough | Bromley |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Facilities | Toilets, parking, mobile canteen. Fishing facilities on 2 lakes |
| Public Transport | Bus: 320 |
| Research Updated | 1 December 2006 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
An earthwork on the common was possibly a cattle pound. Overlooking the common off Heathfield Road is Keston Windmill, an C18th post-mill, which according to its inscription was built in 1716, making it the oldest dated post-mill in Kent. It is a 3-storey black weather boarded structure on a brick roundhouse, with the stumps of the sweeps remaining and some machinery intact. Keston War Memorial is within a semi-circular hedged area with a conical yew tree either side. In Portland stone with a bronze wreath, the memorial was unveiled on 10 March 1920; it was designed by sculptor Sydney March, who also designed the Bromley Memorial.
The site is now managed by idverde UK, which in June 2015 was contracted by Bromley Council for the management of the borough's parks, green spaces and countryside service, a relationship that was extended in April 2019 for a further 16 years.
Keston Common won a Green Flag Award in 2027/18.
The site is now managed by idverde UK, which in June 2015 was contracted by Bromley Council for the management of the borough's parks, green spaces and countryside service, a relationship that was extended in April 2019 for a further 16 years.
Keston Common won a Green Flag Award in 2027/18.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ418640 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | LB Bromley (part). Remainder registered under the Land Registration Acts 1925 and 1936. |
| Site Management | idverde |
| Listed Structures | SAM: Camp on Keston Common (earthworks) |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | Yes: Common (CL80) |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Bromley |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Conservation Area Name | adjacent areas within CA |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Metropolitan Importance |
| Green Belt | Yes |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Area of Archaeological Significance |
| Other LA Designation | SSSI - Keston and Hayes Commons; London Loop; within proposed World Heritage Site |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
Holwood Park is an C18th Pleasure Ground and landscape park at one time owned by William Pitt the Younger who in 1792 commissioned Humphry Repton to advise on improvements to the landscape. His main work was in advising on views and planting, some of which remains south of the house. Holwood Mansion was designed by Sir John Soane but when this burnt down it was rebuilt in 1823-6 for John Ward to designs of Decimus Burton, replacing the earlier house.
Holwood Park is an C18th Pleasure Ground and landscape park at one time owned by William Pitt the Younger who in 1792 commissioned Humphry Repton to advise on improvements to the landscape. His main work was in advising on views and planting, some of which remains south of the house. Holwood Mansion was designed by Sir John Soane but when this burnt down it was rebuilt in 1823-6 for John Ward to designs of Decimus Burton, replacing the earlier house.
There has probably been a religious site here since at least the Roman period and a wooden Saxon church and burial ground serving two nearby manors. The floor plan of Keston Church remained almost unchanged from Norman times until the adjoining Church Halls were built in 1992, which necessitated 66 graves being re-located elsewhere in the churchyard. The churchyard was significantly extended to the east in 1885-6, with smaller extensions to the south by 1896, 1909 and 1933, where the boundary remains. It is largely grass, with numerous tombs and gravestones and has a very large yew tree, under which is the family vault of Maria, Countess of Dysart (d. 1869).
Hayes Common and what remains of West Wickham Common are closely connected; Hayes Common was the waste of the Manor of Baston. It had for centuries been a place where local people could graze cattle and collect firewood. In the 1860s the Lord of both Baston and West Wickham manors, Sir John Lennard, began to sell off plots of West Wickham Common for villas and it was feared that Hayes Common would go the same way. In c.1868 a large body of commoners organised opposition, which in 1869 led to Hayes Common becoming the first common in England and Wales to be given legal protection against enclosure under the Metropolitan Commons Act of 1866.