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Keston is a part suburban, part rural area of Greater London within the London Borough of Bromley, England. It lies on the edge of Hayes Common, to the northwest of Greater London's border with Kent. ==History== Flint implements and pit dwellings on Keston and Hayes Commons show occupation of the area back to at least 3000 B.C., and there are Iron Age encampments in Holwood Park and on Keston Common.〔John Newman, Buildings of England, West Kent and the Weald〕 In the valley below the village are the ruins of a complex of 3rd century AD Roman tombs and mausolea () connected with the nearby 1st - 4th century AD Roman villa excavated 1967-1992 ().〔Council for Kentish Archaeology http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/kestonpage.htm〕 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", so the parish has a distinctive symbol instead.〔Guidebook to Keston Parish Church, 1974〕 William Wilberforce was a frequent visitor to the area as his close friend, William Pitt the younger, lived at 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". Pitt engaged John Soane to enlarge the house and Humphrey 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. Later owners included Lord Chancellor Cranworth, the Earl of Derby, and Seismograph Services Ltd. 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.〔Keston Institute website, http://www.keston.org.uk/〕 Its archive is at the Keston Center for Religion Politics and Society at Baylor University, Texas, so the parish's name has spread surprisingly far. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Keston」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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