Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as the place where some Saxon kings were crowned.
Historically in the county of Surrey, the ancient parish of Kingston covered both the town itself and a large surrounding area. The town was an ancient borough, having been formally incorporated in 1441, with a long history prior to that as a royal manor. From 1836 until 1965 the town formed the Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames. From 1893 to 2020 Kingston was the seat of Surrey County Council. The town became part of Greater London in 1965, when the modern borough was also created as one of the 32 London boroughs.
Kingston is identified as a metropolitan centre in the London Plan and is one of the biggest retail centres in the UK, receiving 18 million visitors a year. It is also home to Kingston University.
The Kingston upon Thames post town corresponds to the KT1 and KT2 postcodes. The wider borough also includes the post towns of New Malden, Surbiton, Chessington, parts of Worcester Park and peripheral parts of several other post towns based outside the borough. The Kingston upon Thames post town roughly corresponds to the six wards of Canbury Gardens, Coombe Hill, Kingston Gate, Kingston Town, Norbiton and Tudor, which had a combined population of 54,925 at the 2021 census, while the borough overall counted 168,063.
Toponymy 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.
There was historically some variation between authorities as to whether Kingston was 'on' or 'upon' Thames, and whether the name should be hyphenated or not. The Post Office initially adopted 'Kingston-on-Thames', the Ordnance Survey used 'Kingston upon Thames', and the old borough council preferred the hyphenated 'Kingston-upon-Thames'. As late as 1959 the borough council was petitioning the other bodies to standardise the name as 'Kingston-upon-Thames'. The London Borough created in 1965 used the form 'Kingston upon Thames' without hyphens, since when that form has been used by the council, Ordnance Survey, and as the post town.
History Early history
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. Kingston lay on the boundary between the ancient kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, until in the early tenth century when King Æthelstan 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 () 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.
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.Football at Kingston, https://web.archive.org/web/20080105043230/http://www.uab.edu/english/hone/etexts/edb/day-pages/046-february15.html 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.Surrey Comet, 9 March 1867
Local government Kingston upon Thames formed an ancient parish in the Kingston hundred of Surrey. The parish of Kingston upon Thames covered a large area including numerous chapelries and townships which subsequently became separate parishes, including Hook, Kew, New Malden, Petersham, Richmond, Surbiton, Thames Ditton and East Molesey.
Kingston was a royal manor. It was granted various charters allowing it the right to hold markets and fairs, with the oldest surviving charter being from King John in 1208. A subsequent charter in 1441 formally incorporated the town as a borough.
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 to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, becoming the Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames. It had been long been known as a royal borough through custom; its right to the title was formally confirmed by George V in 1927. Kingston upon Thames was the seat of Surrey County Council from 1893, when it moved from Newington to a new headquarters at County Hall. The county council remained based at County Hall until 2020, despite Kingston having been removed from its administrative area in 1965.
In 1965, Greater London was created and the old 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.
By 1839 it contained these chapelries, curacies or ecclesiastical parishes which eventually became civil parishes in their own right:
Daughter parish Creation of vestry Notes as to its vestry/Borough Notes as to creationLocal authority today Claygate 1861 Board was Esher and the Dittons Urban District from 1895 From Thames Ditton'Parishes: Thames Ditton', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 462-467. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp462-467Elmbridge East Molesey 1769 Local board from 1866Elmbridge Ham with Hatch* 1866 Local board from 1858Richmond-upon-Thames Hook* 1866 Local board from 1866 First church built 1838 made a Chapelry 1839.Kingston upon Thames Kew 1769Private Act, Kingston upon Thames (Surrey) Vicarage Division Act 1769 (9 Geo. 3. c. 65) Absorbed by Borough of Richmond in 1892Richmond-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames* 1484 Parish vestry powers mainly vested in identical-area Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames ()Kingston upon Thames New Malden 1894 Local board from 1866Kingston upon Thames Petersham 1769 Absorbed by Borough of Richmond in 1892 Attached to Kew until 1891Kew and Petersham Vicarage Acts 1891Richmond-upon-Thames Richmond (previously Sheen) 1849Local Act, 12 & 13 Vict. cap. 42. remained with those marked * in 1769 Became Borough of Richmond in 1890Richmond-upon-Thames Surbiton 1894 Improvement commissioners from 1855Kingston upon Thames Thames Ditton 1769 School Board from 1881. Board: Esher and the Dittons Urban District from 1895 Elmbridge
It follows from the above list of chapelries and the hamlet of Hook, frequently listed in the medieval age that, well before the Conquest, the ancient parish was the Kingston hundred (of Surrey). There soon was a southern exception to this. By the 1086 snapshot of the Domesday Book, Long Ditton (which included exclave Tolworth east of Hook hamlet) had a fully-fledged church likely gaining its independence around that time as recorded throughout the high medieval age and onwards. Thus, in the grant of Kingston church and Long Ditton church to Merton Priory, soon after its foundation in 1117, Long Ditton does not appear as a chapelry of Kingston.'Parishes: Long Ditton', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 516-522. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp516-522
The residual Church of England ecclesiastical parish essentially divides sixfold: All Saints - whole riverside strip - 1 churchMap of All Saints parish St Peter, Norbiton - 2 churchesMap of St Peter's parish St Luke - 1 church - between railway and the Kingston Academy/Wolsey parkMap of St Luke's parish Kingston Hill, St Paul - 1 churchMap of St Paul's parish Kingston upon Thames, St John the Evangelist - Penrhyn Road & The Grove southern area - 1 churchMap of St John the Evangelist's parish Kingston Vale, St John the Baptist - 1 churchMap of St John the Baptist's parish
Urban development
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. 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, of meadow, woodland worth six hogs. It rendered £31 10s (£31.50).
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.
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.
Economic development Kingston evolved as a market town from the Saxon period, with goods transported on the Thames and over land via the crossing point. Rights to hold markets were amongst the liberties granted by the royal charter of 1208 and the market formally established in 1242. 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. Local industries included pottery, brick making, tanning, leather-working, fishing, milling, brewing and boat-building.