Bromley Museum
 Anglo-Saxon cremation urns from the 5th- to 6th-century cemetery at Poverest Road, St Mary Cray, Kent |
Among the archaeological assemblages are those from Crofton Road Roman villa, in Orpington, which was excavated in the 1950s and 1980s; the cemetery site for the Roman villa at Keston, with a number of complete pots, including samian ware; and the small Roman cemetery site at Northfield Avenue, St Mary Cray. There is also pottery from a Roman ditch (with an Anglo-Saxon sunken-floored structure) at Kent Road, St. Mary Cray.
Excavation of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery, close to the Roman bathhouse at Poverest Road, St. Mary Cray, uncovered about 80 mixed inhumations and cremations dating to the 5th to 6th centuries, with several complete Buckelurnen and other vessels amongst the grave goods, many of them now on display. Some medieval pottery was found during excavations by Orpington and District Archaeological Society at Scadbury, as well as post-medieval wares, including a number of 18th-century Dutch tin-glazed tiles.
The museum also houses various small field collections from across the Cray Valley, mostly Roman, alongside collections of 18th- and 19th-century glass bottles, a wide variety of stoneware bottles of different kinds; pharmaceutical bottles and other vessels in pottery and glass; and assorted post-medieval ceramics, amongst which is a soup plate from a Sevres service with the monogram of Napoleon III.
Highlights of the collection:
- Roman pottery from Crofton Roman villa, Orpington, including a number of complete greyware vessels
- Roman pottery from the mausoleum for the villa at Keston, with several complete pots, including a rare bottle form in samian ware
- Pottery from the Roman cemetery at Northfield Avenue, St Mary Cray, including a number of samian vessels
- Field collections of pottery from the Cray Valley, mostly Roman
- Anglo-Saxon pottery and other grave goods from the 5th- to 6th-century cemetery at Poverest Road, St. Mary Cray
- Medieval pottery from Scadbury, including Surrey-Hampshire coarse border ware, Cheam whiteware and London-type ware
- Eighteenth-century Dutch tin-glazed ware wall tiles from Scadbury
- Glass and stoneware bottles and flasks of the 18th and 19th centuries, including a number of Chislehurst Mineral Water bottles
- Pharmaceutical bottles and other forms in ceramic and glass
- Various post-medieval domestic ceramics, including a soup plate originally belonging to Napoleon III
Address: The Priory, Church Hill, Orpington BR6 0HH
Tel: 01689 873826
Email: bromley.museum@bromley.gov.uk
Website: http://www.bromley.gov.uk/
Opening times: All year Mon-Fri, 1.00pm to 5.00pm; Sat, 10.00am to 5.00pm; also Apr - Oct Sun and Bank Holiday Mon, 1.00pm to 5.00pm.
Admission: Free.
Access: Ground floor access for disabled visitors; parking; library/research facilities; education service; outreach programme; guided tours/lectures for pre-booked groups.
Publications:
Hart, F A, 1984, 'Excavation of a Saxon Grubenhaus and Roman ditch at Kent Road, St. Mary Cray', Archaeologia Cantiana, 101, 187-216.
Hart, F A, 2000, Excavations at Scadbury, part 1: excavations near the Island Wall, Orpington and District Archaeological Society.
Hart, F A, 2003, Excavations at Scadbury, part 3: the Estate Barn, Orpington and District Archaeological Society.
Palmer, S, 1984, Excavation of the Roman and Saxon Site at Orpington, London Borough of Bromley.
Philp, B, Parfitt, K, Willson, J and Williams, W, 1999, The Roman villa site at Keston, Kent, second report (excavations 1967 and 1979-90), Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit.
Philp, B and Keller, P, 1995, The Roman site at Fordcroft, Orpington, Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit.
Philp, B, 1996, The Roman villa site at Orpington, Kent, Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit.
Tester, P J, 1968, 'An Anglo Saxon cemetery at Orpington', in Archaeologia Cantiana, 83, 125-150.
Tester, P J, 1969, 'Excavations at Fordcroft, Orpington', in Archaeologia Cantiana, 84, 9-77.
Links to Museum of London Ceramics and Glass website: