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Kingston upon Thames
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kingston upon Thames | |
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| Population | 147,273[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| London borough | Kingston |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | KINGSTON UPON THAMES |
| Postcode district | KT1, KT2 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | Kingston and Surbiton |
| Richmond Park | |
| London Assembly | South West |
| European Parliament | London |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
Kingston upon Thames 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.
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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 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.[2]
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.[3]
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.
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 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 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.
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 Rugby Club is based on the outskirts of the town and Kingston Rowing Club is based on the River Thames.
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.
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 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.[4]
- 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, 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 Waterloo Station via New Malden and Wimbledon or via Richmond upon Thames (the long way round). The local stations are: Kingston 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 as well as Richmond all during the summer season. There are also direct services to Putney and Westminster from Hampton Court.
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.
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. The children's author Jacqueline Wilson attended Coombe Girls School.
- Sources consulted
- Dickens, Charles, Jr [1887, 1879] (1994). Dickens's Dictionary of the Thames, 1887, facsimile, Devon: Old House Books. ISBN 1-873590-12-1. – A guide to the Thames written by the novelist's son.
- Endnotes
- ^ Statistics.gov.uk, census 2001 data
- ^ Dickens 1887, op. cit.
- ^ Surrey Domesday Book
- ^ Kingston Green Fair.org.uk
- Kingston.gov.uk – Kingston Council official website
- "Kingston on Thames" – 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
- "A Brief History of Kingston upon Thames" by Tim Lambert
- Kingston.gov.uk/museum – Kingston Museum official website
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| Districts |
Berrylands · Chessington · Coombe · Kingston upon Thames · Kingston Vale · Motspur Park · New Malden · Norbiton · Old Malden · Surbiton · Tolworth |
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| Attractions | ||
| Constituencies | ||
| Parks and open spaces in Kingston upon Thames | ||
| Section 8: | London Outer Orbital Path | Section 9: |
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| Ewell | Kingston upon Thames | Hatton Cross |