Kevington, London

The name is thought to refer either to a 'place on a hillock', or else a Saxon-era landowner named Cyfa.[1] Some old maps show two distinct places here - Kevington and Kevingtown - however this distinction has since been lost.[1] In the Middle Ages the area formed part of Kevington manor and was in the hands of the Manning and Onslow families.[1] In the mid 1700s the Onslows sold part of their lands to the Dutch financial merchant Herman Behrens, who employed Sir Robert Taylor to build him Kevington Hall in 1769.[1] The Hall was used to billet Canadian troops during the Second World War and was later used as a primary school; it now functions as a conference and events space.[1] Oak View School (originally Shawcroft Special School) opened nearby in 1976 to cater for young people with special needs.[1] There was once a pub in the hamlet called the Kevington Arms, however this is now a farm building.[1]