Kingston upon Thames

The Coronation Stone in the grounds of the Guildhall

Kingston was called Cyninges tun in 838 AD, Chingestune in 1086, Kingeston in 1164, Kyngeston super Tamisiam in 1321 and Kingestowne upon Thames in 1589. The name means 'the king's manor or estate' from the Old English words cyning and tun. It belonged to the king in Saxon times and was the earliest royal borough.[5]

The first surviving record of Kingston is from AD 838 as the site of a meeting between King Egbert of Wessex and Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury.[6] Kingston lay on the boundary between the ancient kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, until in the early tenth century when King Athelstan united both to create the kingdom of England. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, two tenth-century kings were consecrated in Kingston: Æthelstan (925), and Æthelred the Unready (978). There are certain other kings who are said to have been crowned there, but for whom the evidence (including the writings of Florence of Worcester and Ralph de Diceto) is less substantial: Edward the Elder (902), Edmund I (939), Eadred (946), Eadwig (956), Edgar the Peaceful (circa 960) and Edward the Martyr (975). It was later thought that the coronations were conducted in the chapel of St Mary, which collapsed in 1730. Tradition dating to the 18th century holds that a large stone recovered from the ruins played a part in the coronations. It was initially used as a mounting block, but in 1850 it was moved to a more dignified place in the market before finally being moved to its current location in the grounds of the Guildhall.[7][8][9][10]

From Medieval times Shrovetide Football was played annually at Kingston upon Thames and in surrounding towns including Richmond and Twickenham. The windows of the houses and shops were boarded up and from 12 noon the inhabitants would kick several balls around the town before retiring to the public houses.[11] The last game was played in 1866, by which time the urban development of the town meant it caused too much damage and the custom was outlawed.[12]

A map showing the wards of Kingston-upon-Thames Municipal Borough as they appeared in 1868.

Kingston upon Thames formed an ancient parish in the Kingston hundred of Surrey. The parish of Kingston upon Thames covered a large area including Hook, Kew, New Malden, Petersham, Richmond, Surbiton, Thames Ditton and East Molesey.[13]

The town of Kingston was granted a charter by King John in 1200, but the oldest one to survive is from 1208 and this document is housed 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.

The borough covered a much smaller area than the ancient parish, although as new parishes were split off the borough and parish eventually became identical in 1894. The borough was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, becoming the Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames (then spelt with hyphens). It had been known as a Royal borough through custom and the right to the title was confirmed by George V in 1927.[14] Kingston upon Thames was the seat of Surrey County Council when it moved from Newington in 1893 through until 2021 despite not being governed by it.

Shrovetide Football at Kingston in 1846

In 1965, the local government of Greater London was reorganised and the municipal borough was abolished. Its former area was merged with that of the Municipal Borough of Surbiton and the Municipal Borough of Malden and Coombe, to form the London Borough of Kingston upon Thames. At the request of Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council another royal charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth II entitling it to continue using the title "Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames" for the new borough.

The Hogsmill flowing under Clattern Bridge in Kingston. The bridge is mentioned in 1293 as "Clateryngbrugge"[15]

Kingston was built at the first crossing point of the Thames upstream from London Bridge and a bridge still exists at the same site. It was this 'great bridge' that gave it its early importance in the 13th century.[6] 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, King of Wessex, and his son Ethelwulf of Wessex were present. In the Domesday Book it was held by William the Conqueror. Its domesday assets were: a church, five mills, four fisheries worth 10s, 27 ploughs, 40 acres (16 ha) of meadow, woodland worth six hogs. It rendered £31 10s (£31.50).[16]

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. Kingston sent members to early Parliaments, until a petition by the inhabitants prayed to be relieved from the burden. Another chapel, the collegiate chapel of St Mary Magdalene, 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.[17]

With the coming of the railway in the 1830s, there was much building development to the south of the town. Much of this became the new town of Surbiton, but the Surbiton Park estate, built in the grounds of Surbiton Place in the 1850s, remained part of Kingston during the period of the Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames.

A permanent military presence was established in the borough with the completion of The Barracks in 1875.[18]

Kingston evolved as a market town from the Saxon period, with goods transported on the Thames and over land via the crossing point.[19] Rights to hold markets were amongst the liberties granted by the royal charter of 1208 and the market formally established in 1242.[20] A horse fair was held at a site on the downstream side of the river north of the bridge and a market extended from there to around the church by the 17th century and further south towards the course of the Hogsmill River. Goods traded included oats, wheat, rye, malt, apples and other fruit, flowers, wool, leather and cheese. Cattle, meat and fish were also traded. The regular Saturday market was supplemented by a Wednesday market in 1662. In addition to markets, regular fairs were held.[20] Local industries included pottery, brick making, tanning, leather-working, fishing, milling, brewing and boat-building.[21][22]

The presence of fabric and wood-working craft skills associated with boat-building was a factor in the choice of Kingston as the site chosen by Tommy Sopwith to expand production of early aircraft from Sopwith Aviation's origins at Brooklands.[23] Well known aviation personalities Sydney Camm, Harry Hawker and Tommy Sopwith were responsible for much of Kingston's achievements in aviation. For much of the 20th century, Kingston was a major military aircraft manufacturing centre specialising in fighter aircraft – first with Sopwith Aviation, H G Hawker Engineering, later Hawker Aircraft, Hawker Siddeley and eventually British Aerospace. The renowned Sopwith Camel, Hawker Fury, Hurricane, Hunter and Harrier jump jet were all designed and built in the town and examples of all of these aircraft can be seen today at the nearby Brooklands Museum in Weybridge. British Aerospace finally closed its Lower Ham Road factory in 1992;[24] part of the site was subsequently redeveloped for housing but the riverside part houses a community centre and sports complex.

Following the construction of the Kingston Relief Road (commonly known as the "Kingston one-way system") in 1989,[25] major shopping streets in the town centre and the historic Market Place were pedestrianised.[26] Two major commercial developments were also built in Kingston town centre - with John Lewis Kingston department store opening in 1990[27] and the Bentall Centre shopping centre opening in 1992.[28] In the early 2000s, the Charter Quay development south of Kingston Bridge completed the riverside walk,[29] as well as adding bars, restaurants and the Rose Theatre, which opened in 2008 with Sir Peter Hall as the director.[30] Also, in 2001, the old Kingston bus garage and bus station, closed the previous year, was demolished and the site redeveloped as the Rotunda complex, with an Odeon Cinema, restaurants and tenpin bowling.[31]

The sculpture "Out of Order"

One of the more unusual sights in Kingston is Out of Order by David Mach, a sculpture in the form of twelve disused red telephone boxes that have been tipped up to lean against one another in an arrangement resembling dominoes. The work was commissioned in 1988 as part of the landscaping for the new Relief Road, and was described by its creator as "anti-minimalist".[53][54]

Kingston is principally served by Kingston railway station, which opened in 1863.

The station is in London fare zone 6 and is served by South Western Railway trains from London Waterloo.[55][56] Trains to Waterloo link Kingston directly to destinations such as Wimbledon, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall. Eastbound trains travel to Shepperton via Teddington, Hampton and Sunbury. Eastbound trains also travel on the Kingston loop line towards Teddington, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham and Richmond, after which trains continue towards Waterloo. From Waterloo, trains to Kingston are advertised towards "Shepperton" and "Strawberry Hill".[55][56]

A nearby station in Norbiton (in fare zone 5) is on the same lines.[55]

Nearby Surbiton station - originally named Kingston when it opened in 1838 - is on the South West Main Line in London fare zone 6. Surbiton is also served by South Western Railway trains from Waterloo. Southbound services link Surbiton to destinations in Surrey and Hampshire, such as Hampton Court, Guildford, Woking and Basingstoke.[55] The station building at Surbiton was built in 1937, designed in Art Deco style by James Robb Scott. It is Grade II listed.[57]

Kingston is served by two bus stations, Cromwell Road and Fairfield, and a large number of bus stops, with destinations across Greater London and Surrey including links directly to Heathrow Airport.[58]

The Kingston Bypass passes to the south and east of Kingston. The bypass carries the A3, which links the area to Wandsworth, Clapham and the City of London to the north. To the south, the A3 runs to Portsmouth via Guildford and Petersfield.

A portion of the bypass carries the A309 to Thames Ditton, Hampton Court and the A308.

There are several radial routes including:

• A238 towards Raynes Park, Wimbledon, Colliers Wood and Tooting
• A240 towards Surbiton, Tolworth, Ewell, Epsom, Banstead and Reigate
• A2043 towards New Malden, Worcester Park, Cheam and Sutton
• A307 northbound towards Petersfield, Richmond and the M4, or southbound towards Thames Ditton, Esher and Cobham
• A308 eastbound towards the A3, Putney and Wandsworth and westbound towards Hampton Court, Sunbury-on-Thames (for M3) and Staines-upon-Thames
• A310 via A308 northbound towards Teddington, Twickenham and Hounslow

In the 1960s, planners proposed a partially elevated ring road encircling the town centre, to alleviate congestion on major shopping streets and traffic heading towards Kingston Bridge.[26] After objections from local residents, an interim one-way system was implemented in July 1963.[59] Following this, the Kingston Relief Road was constructed in Kingston town centre in the late 1980s.[26] Commonly known as the "Kingston one-way system",[25] the road encircles the town centre, allowing for major shopping streets such as Clarence Street to be pedestrianised.[60] On the western side of the town centre, the road passes underneath John Lewis Kingston before crossing the River Thames via Kingston Bridge.[61] As part of the project, two bus stations were constructed, cycle lanes installed and several artworks commissioned including Out of Order by David Mach and River Celebration by Carole Hodgson.[53][54]

Kingston Town End and Kingston Turks piers are situated in Kingston. Turk Launches operates a Summer-only river tour between Hampton Court and Richmond St Helena.[62]

There is a network of cycle lanes throughout Kingston linking the area to destinations throughout south-west London and England.

Key routes include:

• National Cycle Route 4 - A route from Greenwich in south-east London to St David's in west Wales. NCR4 follows the route of the River Thames near Kingston, crossing from the south side of the river to the north over Kingston Bridge. Northbound, the route runs towards Central London and Greenwich via Ham, Richmond Park and Barnes. Westbound, NCR4 runs towards Reading via Walton, Egham and Eton.[63] The route is part of EuroVelo 2, a route from Moscow to Galway.[64]
• Cycleway 28 - A two-way, segregated cycle track between Kingston and Seething Wells along Portsmouth Road.[65]
• Cycleway 29 - A cycle route, much of which is two-way and segregated from other road traffic between Kingston and Fishponds Park. Much of the route follows Penrhyn Road and Ewell Road.[65]
• Cycleway 30 - A segregated cycle track between C29 at Kingston to Putney Vale, following the route of A308 London Road.[65]

Bradley Wiggins riding towards central Kingston on 1 August 2012.

Prior to the opening of the games, Kingston hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay[82] on two occasions with the flame travelling through the borough on 24 July 2012 and aboard the Gloriana in a cauldron on 27 July 2012 en route to the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony. The borough was the setting for four cycling events during the Olympics, the men's road race, women's road race, men's road time trial and women's road time trial.

Following the games, the London–Surrey Classic professional road bicycle race ran through the town from 2013 to 2018, using a similar course to the Olympic road race.[83] Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the race will not return to Kingston, with the RideLondon festival using the roads of Essex instead.[84]