Everything about Kingston-upon-thames totally explained
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west
London.
It was the ancient
market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of
Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the
London Plan.
History
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
Romans, 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's 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.
Kingston upon Thames appears in
Domesday Book of 1086 as
Chingestone and
Chingetun(e). It was held by
William the Conqueror. Its domesday assets were: a church, five
mills, three
fisheries worth 10s, 27
ploughs, 40 acres of
meadow,
woodland worth six
hogs. It rendered
£30.
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
Parliaments, until a petition by the inhabitants prayed to be relieved from the burden.
Kingston was one of the
Boroughs to be reformed by the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835, becoming a
municipal borough. It retained this status until the
London Government Act 1963 came into force in 1965, merging Kingston upon Thames with
Surbiton 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. Before becoming part of Greater London in 1965, Kingston was in the county of
Surrey, and some confusion continues because the county hall and offices of
Surrey County Council are still in Kingston. For river users, Kingston is still on the "Surrey" bank.
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.
Kingston today
Central Kingston is a busy predominantly retail centre, with a small number of commercial offices and civic buildings. It has a great many
car parks, connected by a notoriously difficult
one-way system. It is one of the main centres of the south west London bus network, and it's 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 which opened 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 isn't 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's a walk through Canbury Park to
Teddington Lock. Upstream there's 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.
Another recent novelty is the
Toilet Gallery, a minimalist art gallery housed in an ex-public lavatory near the Phone Box sculpture.
Sport
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 Rugby Club is based on the outskirts of the town and
Kingston Rowing Club is based on the River Thames.
Kingston Regatta takes place on the river at the town in July.
Eating and drinking
Kingston has many pubs and restaurants, though several public houses in centre have closed in recent years to become restaurants or bars. 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. The Druid's Head is notable as one of the first taverns to make the famous dessert
syllabub in the 18th century. There are several Chinese, Indian, Thai and Italian restaurants.
Politics and religion
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.
Kingston Green Fair
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.
Education
» For education in Kingston upon Thames see the main Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames article.
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, The Holy Cross 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.
Transport
The town is served by two railway stations on a line into
Waterloo Station via
New Malden and
Wimbledon or via
Richmond upon Thames (the long way round). The local stations are:
Kingston and
Norbiton. An additional railway station is located on the main line in nearby
Surbiton, and has a more frequent service.
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 as well as Richmond all during the summer season. There are also direct services to Putney and Westminster from Hampton Court.
Media
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's 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 programme
The Good Life sees
Richard Briers get on a 71 bus in 'The Avenue' towards Kingston town centre, albeit this route never served that east side of Surbiton.
Nipper, the famous "His Master's Voice" dog, is buried (1895) in the town under Lloyds Bank. His owners lived nearby in Fife Road. Also, the 2008 series of 'Primeval', shown on ITV1 in January, featured almost an entire episode filmed inside the
Bentall Centre and
John Lewis department stores.
Notable people
» See also alumini of local schools, colleges and the university
Notable people born in the town include
John Galsworthy and
John Cleland (both authors),
Eadweard Muybridge (photographer),
John Cooper (auto engineer),
Derek Bourgeois (composer),
Dave Swarbrick (folk fiddle player),
Nigel Barley (anthropologist),
Jonny Lee Miller and
Kelly Reilly (both actors), and
Steven Reid (footballer).
Further Information
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