is the principal settlement of the
Royal Borough Of Kingston Upon Thames in
London .
It was the ancient
Market Town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a lively suburb situated 10 miles (16.18 km) south west of
Charing Cross . It is one of ten major metropolitan centres identified in the
London Plan .
Kingston was built at the first crossing point of the
Thames upstream from
London Bridge and a
Bridge still exists at the same site. Kingston was occupied by the
Roman s, and later it was either a royal residence or a royal
Demesne . There is a record of a council held there in
838 , at which
Egbert Of Wessex , the first King of All England, and his son
Ethelwulf Of Wessex were present; and in this record it is styled ''Kyningestun famosa illa locus''. In
Old English , ''tun'', ''ton'' or ''don'' meant ''farmstead'' - so the name ''Kingston'' may have been thought to mean ''farmstead of the kings''. Seven
Saxon kings are traditionally said to have been crowned at Kingston, while seated on a large stone - The
Coronation Stone - that stands outside the Guildhall. There is a local rumour that these Saxon coronations gave Kingston its name, but the records of the 838 council disprove this.
[Dickens 1887, op. cit.]
Kingston upon Thames appears in , three
Fisheries worth 10s, 27
Plough s, 40 acres of
Meadow ,
Woodland worth six
Hog s. It rendered £30.
Surrey Domesday Book
The first of the
Charters given to the town of Kingston was granted by
King John in
1208 and this document still exists in the town's archives. Other charters were issued by later kings, including
Edward IV's charter that gave the town the status of a
Borough in
1481 .
Some interesting relics have been discovered to support this history, and statues of some of the Saxon kings and of King John were preserved in a chapel. In
1730 the chapel containing the royal ''effigies'' collapsed, burying the sexton, who was digging a grave, the sexton's daughter and another person. The daughter survived this accident and was her father's successor as sexton.
Another chapel, The Lovekyn Chapel, still exists. It was founded in
1309 by a former mayor of London,
Edward Lovekyn . It is the only private chantry chapel to survive the
Reformation .
Kingston sent members to early
Parliament s, until a petition by the inhabitants prayed to be relieved from the burden.
Kingston was one of the boroughs to be reformed by the and
Malden & Coombe Councils to form part of the
London Borough Of Kingston Upon Thames . At the request of the Council, Queen Elizabeth II granted Kingston another Royal Charter in 1965 entitling it to continue using the title "Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames" for the enlarged Borough.
For much of the 20th century, Kingston was a major military aircraft manufacturing centre - first with
Sopwith , then
Hawker Aviation and eventually
British Aerospace .
The growth and development of Kingston Polytechnic and its transformation into
Kingston University has made Kingston a university town.
Central Kingston is a busy predominantly retail centre, with a small number of commercial offices and civic buildings. It has a great many
Car Park s, connected by a notoriously difficult
One-way System . It is one of the main centres of the south west London bus network, and it is connected to
Twickenham ,
Richmond ,
Wimbledon , and
London Waterloo by overground train.
Shopping is well catered for and is generally towards the upper end of expectations, with a good mixture of familiar High Street chains and more select boutiques. The shopping centre includes a
Shopping Mall , "The Bentall Centre", containing the
Bentalls department store and large branches of
Chain Stores found in many British high streets. There is a large branch of the
John Lewis department store group, with a
Waitrose supermarket, located in the basement. The
Rotunda , located in the former Bentalls furniture depository building (a local landmark), includes a
Bowling Alley , fitness centre, a 14-screen
Odeon multiplex cinema and some restaurants. Recent developments along the riverside south of Kingston Bridge have added bars, restaurants and a theatre, the
Rose Of Kingston - due to open in 2007 with
Sir Peter Hall as the director. The ancient
Market is still held daily in the Market Place.
Kingston's civic buildings include the Guildhall which houses
Kingston Council , the
Magistrates' Court , the
County Court , and a local
Museum and
Public Library . Adjacent to the County Hall Building is the new
Crown Court building. The main offices of
Surrey County Council are also in
County Hall Kingston, even though Kingston is not administered by Surrey. Plans to move these offices to
Woking have been scrapped.
Kingston's main open space is the River Thames, with its lively frontage of bars and restaurants. Downstream there is a walk through Canbury Park to
Teddington Lock . Upstream there is a promenade crossing the
Hogsmill river and reaching almost to Surbiton. Across Kingston Bridge is a tree lined river bank fronting the expanse of Hampton Court Park.
One of the more unusual sights in Kingston is several disused
Red Telephone Boxes that have been tipped up to lean against one another in an arrangement resembling dominoes. This sculpture by
David Mach was commissioned in 1988, and is called ''
Out Of Order ''.
The Druid's Head in Kingston is notable as one of the first taverns to make the famous dessert
Syllabub in the 18th century.
Another recent novelty is the ''
Toilet Gallery '', a minimalist art gallery housed in an ex-public lavatory near the Phone Box sculpture.
Kingston is the home of two non-league
Association Football clubs,
Kingstonian F.C. and
AFC Wimbledon , both of which play at the
Kingsmeadow Stadium .
Kingston has many pubs and restaurants. However in the centre at least, a number of public houses have closed in recent years to become restaurants or bars, adding to the losses sustained due to large-scale rebuilding in the final quarter of the twentieth century. The more traditional pubs tend to be in the northern part of the town (Canbury) and include the Park Tavern and Wych Elm. Further south are found the Druid's Head, the Spring Grove, and several small local pubs around Fairfield, as well as several Chinese, Indian, and Thai restaurants. Recently a number of Italian restaurants have gained popularity, most notably Rosa Nero.
Kingston straddles two Parliamentary constituencies: the area north of the railway line is part of
Richmond Park represented by
Susan Kramer ; the area south of the railway line (which includes the ancient town centre) is part of
Kingston And Surbiton represented by
Edward Davey . Both
Members Of Parliament are members of the
Liberal Democrat party.
Ecclesiastically, Kingston lies in the
Church Of England Diocese Of Southwark and
Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Southwark . The
Suffragan or Area Bishop of Kingston is the Rt Rev. Dr Richard Cheetham.
main building, Penrhyn Road campus]]
Kingston Green Fair has been held annually since 1987 in Canbury Gardens, next to the river, on the Spring
Bank Holiday . The word "Green" in the title refers to the ethos of the fair as promoting
Sustainable Development . For instance no meat or other products derived from dead animals are allowed to be sold, and no electricity is permitted on the site unless generated by wind, sun, or bicycle power.
[ Kingston Green Fair.org.uk ]
There are many schools in Kingston including
Surbiton High School ,
The Hollyfield School ,
Southborough High School ,
Chessington Community College , Richard Challoner School, Tolworth Girls School,
Kingston Grammar School , Canbury School, Coombe Girls School, Coombe Boys school,
Marymount International School (MMI) ,
Tiffin School (boys) and
Tiffin Girls' School . Kingston is also home to
Kingston University and
Kingston College .
]]
The town is served by two railway stations on a line into and
Norbiton .
The
A3 Road runs from central London towards Kingston before by-passing the town to the east. The "Kingston bypass road" was one of the first arterial roads to be built in Britain. It was originally proposed in 1912 to relieve the pressure of traffic in the town centre, but World War I delayed the start of work until 1924. It was opened by Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin on 28 October 1927. Kingston is also served by the
A240 ,
The A307, Portsmouth Road ,
A308 and
A310 .
Riverboats run regularly between Kingston and Hampton Court, and there are services to Richmond, Putney and beyond, although timings depend on the tide.
Heathrow Airport is within six miles.
Kingston has been covered in literature, film and television. It is where the comic
Victorian novel ''
Three Men In A Boat '' by
Jerome K. Jerome begins and it is referenced (and used as a filming location) in episodes of Monty Python. Furthermore a scene from ''Mujhse Dosti Karoge'', a
Bollywood film, was filmed by the toppled telephone boxes. This had
Hrithik Roshan as the leading actor. A scene in the television program ''
The Good Life '' sees
Richard Briers get on a bus towards Kingston town centre. Interestingly
Nipper , the famous "HMV" dog, is buried in the town behind Lloyds bank.
(photographer) was born in the town in 1830]]
Notable people born in the town include
John Galsworthy , and
Eadweard Muybridge .
Numerous people who are now famous were educated in the town. The actor
Richard Briers went to Rokeby Prep School, while the guitarist
Eric Clapton was educated at Hollyfield School. Alumni of
Kingston Grammar School include
James Cracknell , the Olympic rower;
Michael Frayn , the playwright; and
R. C. Sherriff , the playwright.
Simon May , the playwright and composer, was a former teacher at the school.
Alec Stewart , the former England Cricket Captain, attended
Tiffin School , and author
Lynn Truss attended
Tiffin Girls School .
Lawrence Dallaglio , the former English Rugby Union Captain, studied at
Kingston University .
; Sources consulted
; Endnotes
