KESTON OLD and NEWish Based on photographs from the collection of G.W. Smith Adapted from a presentation to the BBLHS by Max Batten January 3 rd 2012
So who was GW Smith? Well in a He was later assisted by his nephew George, “Gee” sense he was two people. As we can who, in addition to adding to the collection, continued William Smith see from the family tree, the Smith to show the lantern Slides to local groups into the 1780 – 1860 family has been in the area for a long Bromley/Bromley 1980s. The collection of which this is a small part was time. We are concerned initially with Common presented to the Local Archives in 1987 and Gee’s William Smith who set up a builder’s son Len made a series of tapes adding information to business in Bromley Common, in the pictures. The material disappeared into Bromley Brewery Lane. In 1905 George Thomas Smith Library archives and that seemed to be that! William, together with his brother 1811-1877 Joshua took over the business. GW Hayes/Bromley However, in 2011, the Smith family kindly donated was always a keen photographer and Common funds to purchase a suitable slide scanner for the from the 1880s travelled around the Library and three volunteers, of whom I was one, Bromley, Hayes and Keston area with turned the images into more easily viewed digital William Smith his heavy photographic equipment in a pictures, as well as making digital copies of Len’s 1836-1908 small donkey cart. His collection of descriptions which have been utilised in this Hayes/Bromley glass slides were used to give presentation. Common entertaining lectures. George William Joshua Walter Smith Smith 1868-1942 Wallace Smith Elizabeth Smith 1861-1926 Bromley Common Bromley Common George “Gee” Muriel Annie Smith Joshua Bernard William Smith Harold Mark 1905-1994 Blanch Smith Smith 1898-1987 Bromley Smith Bromley Common Common Leonard George Roger Evans Smith
Let’s first have a look at the area I am covering in this small selection of GW’s photos. This map shows the area from Leaves Green in the south to the Croydon Road in the north. We shall be starting in the south, passing Keston Church into Holwood, across to the Westerham Road, Keston Pond, down to Keston Common and then along the Croydon Road to Keston Mark. Note in particular the junction at Keston, and the names Jewels Wood (bottom left) and Leaves Green.
In this 1780 map, near the top we can see the Keston Common junction but the most striking difference is perhaps the fact that there was no Westerham Road nor Keston Ponds, the road system being concentrated on Holwood. Also marked are Caesar’s camp, which we know now is really an Iron Age fort. We can see Keston Windmill in Heathfield Lane and Keston Church, even then somewhat isolated. Towards the bottom is Leves Green and Jews Wood. Finally, notice that this glass slide has been damaged and poorly repaired.
One of the big advantages of slide digitising is that you can improve their quality, make repairs and bring out details that were not so clear in the original. Here, I have removed the Sellotape yellowing on the left and restored the missing area on the right. Of course, this can be con- troversial. How much change should you make to original material? The removal of the yellowing is maybe OK but what about the road on the right. Although I have replaced the road from bits elsewhere on the map, it is only my guess at to what was there. I should stress that the original very high quality scans have not been touched in any way. Anyway, lets start our tour of the district at the Crown Inn, just north of the name Leves Green on the map.
Probably taken around 1880, on the extreme right is the Tollgate cottage. The adjacent garage today is still called the Tollgate. Of particular note is the condition of the road, presumably GW had to negotiate this with his donkey cart! At this point I want to introduce an additional benefit of the digital age, Google Street View. Here is the Crown Inn today kindly taken by the Google cameramen. Although there have been considerable changes, the building on the left would seem to be the same as we saw in the photo above so is a lot older than the extension on the right. Moving on along the road we come to…
Keston Church from Hadwell’s collection as sketched on 16 May 1841 and subsequently turned into a photo by GW. The church is unusual in not being dedicated to a saint. Note the chimney at east (near) end, the single window and the stepped shape of the chancel.
In this interior photo taken around 1900 we can see that the chimney is connected to a pipe through the church presumably providing some limited central heating. Note the box pews and the unusually ornate pulpit with a sounding board above to improve acoustics. When the whitewash on the walls was removed in the 1950s a copy of the Ten Commandments was discovered. Who or when they were painted over is not known.
A general view of the church, with the chimney just visible on the right. Note the plain bell tower.
A close up of the south side. Excavations have found evidence of at least three previous churches on the site and pre-Norman, burials in chalk. Early maps show the church with a steeple and although this was thought just to be artistic licence, digging in the 1950s found suitable footings around the filled in archway. Bells in a steeple were also recorded in the time of Edward III (1327 to 1377 if case you have forgotten). There is a Pepys family vault on site with C18th interments. The stepped shape of the church is known as a weeping chancel.
A picture taken from the other side of the church but at a later date. Note the larger belfry with the open lattice work. One bell made by Thomas Bartlet is dated 1621, a further 6 bells were donated in the 1870s by the Derby family at Holwood. The fence is the boundary of the old church yard which has now been extended. On the right can be seen part of the very large rectory which was finally abandoned in 1925.
A later view from the lane where we can see the larger belfry. The identity of the bowler hatted gentleman is unknown. Note the east window is now divided by a central mullion. Today, of course, it is a single window again.
We now move forward to the Second World War, and a photo taken by Gee Smith, GW’s nephew, after bomb damage at the east end and which demolished all the tombstones. Note the four stone marks/holes which have appeared. These are the original old wooden scaffolding holes used during construction which were then plugged on completion of the building.
The same end of the church after repairs in 1950 but before the glass was replaced. Just at the bottom centre, you can see the remains of a Roman centurion’s coffin from nearby Warbank roman villa. Moved to Wickham Court, apparently in the 1920s, it was badly broken by stampeding horses in a storm. It was removed by Len’s father, Gee, repaired and taken to Keston. It has now been returned to Warbank.
This is a view of the Rectory at the west end of the church around 1900. A bomb fell on the empty building and badly damaged it in 1941. But there was no damage to the church including its stained glass window. However, it was decided to use the building to test the effectiveness of a new air raid precaution, the Morrison shelter. This was simply a steel reinforced table for use in houses under which residents could shelter during a bombing raid. It is not clear if the engineers were over enthusiastic or just thorough, but the entire rectory was demolished, and the west church window with it! Is it possible that the building was chosen because it was near Fort Halstead?
One of the graves in Keston churchyard was that of Mrs Craik, best known for John Halifax, Gentleman , which was actually televised in 1974. Born in Stoke, she lived in Shortlands. She married at 39 and died during pre- parations for her adopted daughter’s wedding, aged 61. Now we move on to Keston Farm…
In the previous slide taken just to the south of the church we see Keston or North Court farm around 1890. On the left is the vicar’s tithe barn. It acted as an occasional local judicial court for minor offences. (The South Court was Blackness Farm). Courtesy of Google Street View again, we can see the farm today, with the house very recognisable although the barn has been replaced .
Keston Court farm again, with the tithe barn on the right. This is included to again show what can be done with digital processing. I am not sure what had happened to the original picture, above, but it is a simple process to remove the colour cast which I don’t believe was intended.
An attractive view of elm trees edging a lane beyond which lies Keston Court farm. This is now Rectory Road and would have been the main route before the Westerham Road was built. GW may have been experimenting with filters given the strange colour of the trees. Since they are in leaf it is unlikely to be frost.
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