Historically, the major local commercial centre was nearby St Mary Cray rather than Orpington. St Mary Cray had a regular market, and industry (paper mills and bell foundry). 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. In 1967, Eric Lubbock, then Liberal MP for Orpington, promoted a Private Member's Bill to provide permanent Romani sites; this resulted in the Caravan Sites Act 1968 that placed an obligation upon local authorities to provide sites for locally residing travellers.Stopping Places: A Gypsy History of South London and Kent Simon Evans (Univ of Hertfordshire Press 2004) In 1971, an international meeting of Romany people was held at Orpington; this Orpington Congress marked the founding of the International Romani Union, a group seeking political representation for Romanis throughout Europe.The Roma (Czech Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, October 2002) accessed 3 December 2007.
Historically, the major local commercial centre was nearby St Mary Cray rather than Orpington. St Mary Cray had a regular market, and industry (paper mills and bell foundry). 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. In 1967, Eric Lubbock, then Liberal MP for Orpington, promoted a Private Member's Bill to provide permanent Romani sites; this resulted in the Car!avan Sites Act 1968 that p?laced an obligation upon local authorities to provide sites for locally residing travellers.Stopping Places: A Gypsy History of South London and Kent Simon Evans (Univ of Hertfordshire Press 2004) In 1971, an international meeting of Romany people was held at Orpington; this Orpington Congress marked the founding of the International Romani Union, a group seeking political representation for Romanis throughout Europe.The Roma (Czech Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, October 2002) accessed 3 December 2007.