Description
Kevington Manor is an old mansion that was owned from the C18th by the Berens family for whom landscaped gardens were laid out. Maps of the late C19th show a well-planted garden and a kitchen garden with glasshouses. Kevington was requisitioned during WWI and the house became a Canadian Divisional Battle School. After the war the Berens family sold the property to Kent County Council and the house became a primary school. Two other schools were built in the grounds; one of which involved pulling down half the kitchen garden walls. By the 1980s the house was no longer needed for a school and was sold with c.3.6 hectares of land including some fine trees, the ha-ha, the derelict pond, swimming pool and the flower garden.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Shawcroft School; Kevington County Primary School |
|---|---|
| Site location | Crockenhill Road/Blacksmiths Lane, St Mary Cray |
| Postcode | BR5 |
| What3Words | ///easy.spared.dizzy |
| Type of Site | Private Open Land |
| Borough | Bromley |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private |
| Public Transport | Rail: St Mary’s Cray. Bus: 477. |
| Research Updated | 1 December 2006 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
By the end of the C16th there was a house of the ‘Nobylite and Geentye at ‘Kevingtowne'. The seat of the Manning family, by 1664 it had twelve hearths. In 1767 Herman Berens, a City of London merchant from the Netherlands, bought Kevington and employed the architect Sir Robert Taylor to rebuild it. Berens' Account and Memorandum Book is still owned by the family and shows the costs and the materials used. Stables, a granary, dairy and dovehouse were also built at that time. From ‘The Account Book' it is clear that the kitchen garden was built in 1769. There is also a memorandum about making a ‘Brickpit for Grapes'. In 1778 Berens re-routed part of Crokenhill Road away from the south-west garden front of the house; the ha-ha on that side may mark the earlier course of Crokenhill Road. No date or designer has been traced for the landscaped park, which could have been created in 1769 or alternatively in 1778 when the road was re-routed. In 1795 Joseph Berens inherited Kevington from his father; he rebuilt the stable block and the bay on the south-west garden front of the house.
The 1886 2nd edition OS 25ins map and a subsequent estate map show a well-planted garden and a kitchen garden with glasshouses. A flower garden, ornamental pool and swimming pool were created, probably in the early 1930s, and about the same time, on the edge of the park in the Warren, two natural ponds were joined to make a boating lake.
The current owners took over this part of the site in 1989 and have started to restore some of the main rooms of the house.
The 1886 2nd edition OS 25ins map and a subsequent estate map show a well-planted garden and a kitchen garden with glasshouses. A flower garden, ornamental pool and swimming pool were created, probably in the early 1930s, and about the same time, on the edge of the park in the Warren, two natural ponds were joined to make a boating lake.
The current owners took over this part of the site in 1989 and have started to restore some of the main rooms of the house.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ479679 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | private |
| Dates | C18th, C19th, C20th |
| Listed Structures | LBII*: Kevington Manor |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Bromley |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | Yes |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
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
St Mary Cray Cemetery opened in 1881(1884?) and has a chapel at the entrance amid mature trees, although the lodge at the entrance gate has since been demolished. There is a WWII War Graves Plot and WAFS of Biggin Hill are buried here. St Mary Cray Churchyard is to the west of the cemetery.
St Mary Cray is a flint church with some remnants of the C13th and C14th but the building was later restored in 1861-3, 1876 and 1895. Although the old village is much changed as a result of post-war development, the parish still includes farmland and open countryside, and the River Cray still runs near the church and its old churchyard. A Portland stone WWI War Memorial is in the churchyard.
During WWII land on the banks of the River Cray was bombed and after the war Riverside Gardens was created from this wasteland to form a riverside linear park. The site, largely level with undulations, is laid mainly to grass borders and decorated by native and ornamental trees. The stream is broken in places with small cascades and the park is divided in two by Kent Road. A tarmac path runs along the western side of the stream in the southern section and on the eastern side in the northern section. At the northern end is a small paddling pool and in the southern section, near to Kent Road, is a pool for model boats.