[2] Stone Age tools have been found in several areas of Orpington, including Goddington Park, Priory Gardens, the Ramsden estate, and Poverest.

[citation needed] Early Bronze Age pottery fragments have been found in the Park Avenue area.

[citation needed] During the building of Ramsden Boys School in 1956, the remains of an Iron Age farmstead were excavated.

The first record of the name Orpington occurs in 1038, when King Cnut's treasurer Eadsy gave land at "Orpedingetune" to the Monastery of Christ Church at Canterbury.

[4] On 22 July 1573, Queen Elizabeth I was entertained at Bark Hart (Orpington Priory)[5] and her horses stabled at the Anchor and Hope Inn on the High Street[citation needed].

In contrast, Orpington was a small country village surrounded by soft fruit farms, hop fields and orchards.

These crops attracted Romani people, working as itinerant pickers, to annual camps in local meadows and worked-out chalk pits.

Although this work has largely ended, the Borough still provides a permanent site for travellers at Star Lane, and historic gatherings are commemorated in local street names, such as Romany Rise.

[4] The station was expanded in 1904, prompting a wave of house building that peaked in the 1920-30s, transforming the area into a suburb of London.

[10] After the Conservative member for the Orpington constituency, Donald Sumner, had resigned to become a county court judge, a by-election was held on 15 March 1962.

[citation needed] The Walnuts Leisure Centre,[19] just east of the High Street, has a six-lane, 33.3-metre indoor swimming pool, squash courts and a gym with sauna and steam room, as well as a sports hall used for activities such as badminton, basketball, trampolining and fitness classes.

On 3 October 2014 Cray Wanderers signed a conditional contract to purchase Flamingo Park Sports Centre on the A20 Sidcup bypass.

The club subsequently obtained planning permission from Bromley Council for a new sporting community hub, featuring a new multi-sport stadium with a spectator capacity of 2,200.

[29] However, in July 2016 new London Mayor Sadiq Kahn vetoed the plan as part of his pledge to protect green belt land.

[32] Since 1985, members of Orpington Road Runners[33] have met every Tuesday near The Buff Pub and on Sundays at High Elms Country Park.

For over 10 years, the club has organised a 10k race and series of 2k fun runs[34] during the summer in conjunction with Darrick Wood School.

Knoll Lawn Tennis Club[36] has (despite its name) five tarmac courts tucked away among the houses of Mayfield Avenue and Lynwood Grove.

In 1032, Eadsy, chaplain to King Cnut, gave his estate at Orpedingetune to Christ Church Priory, Canterbury.

[citation needed] In the 17th century the house ceased to be a rectory and passed into private ownership; a timber-framed extension was added, which no longer exists.

[44] The Grade II listed[45] Priory Gardens designed by the last private owners of The Priory, Cecil and Lilian Hughes, consists of Italianate and Arts & Crafts style formal gardens reflecting the Hughes respective interests, a landscaped park with children's play area, and a trio of natural ponds where the River Cray rises.

[46] During the First World War a large military hospital, the "16th Canadian General", was built south-east of the station, funded by the government of Ontario, Canada.

Orpington War Memorial standing at the southern end of the High Street is a focal point for Remembrance Sunday.

A campaign in 1997–98 for the remembrance of 432 armed forces personnel who fell in the Second World War resulted in the unveiling of eight more plaques on Sunday 2 August 1999.

[citation needed] The Memorial Cross in Canadian Corner was unveiled in 1921 in the presence of the High Commissioner for Canada.

[50] The automatic plunger used to release the Union flag which hid the Cross was the same used by George V during the unveiling of The Cenotaph a year earlier.

[52] Journalists in the 1960s used "Orpington man" to designate a typical member of the lower middle class, for example as the target audience of an electoral or advertising appeal.