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Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a London borough in south-west London, England. The main town in the borough is Kingston upon Thames, but it covers a wider area also including places such as Surbiton, Chessington, New Malden and Tolworth....
 in south-west London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
.

It was the ancient market town
Market town

Market town or market right is a law term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host Market, distinguishing them from villages and city....
 where Saxon
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross
Charing Cross

Charing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, London, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in City of Westminster within Central London, England....
. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan
London Plan

The London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended....
.

History
Kingston was built at the first crossing point of the Thames
River Thames

The Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Berkshire and Windsor, Berkshire....
 upstream from London Bridge
London Bridge

London Bridge is a bridge between the City of London and Southwark in London, England, over the River Thames. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London....
 and a bridge still exists at the same site.






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Encyclopedia


Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a London borough in south-west London, England. The main town in the borough is Kingston upon Thames, but it covers a wider area also including places such as Surbiton, Chessington, New Malden and Tolworth....
 in south-west London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
.

It was the ancient market town
Market town

Market town or market right is a law term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host Market, distinguishing them from villages and city....
 where Saxon
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross
Charing Cross

Charing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, London, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in City of Westminster within Central London, England....
. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan
London Plan

The London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended....
.

History


Kingston was built at the first crossing point of the Thames
River Thames

The Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Berkshire and Windsor, Berkshire....
 upstream from London Bridge
London Bridge

London Bridge is a bridge between the City of London and Southwark in London, England, over the River Thames. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London....
 and a bridge still exists at the same site. Kingston was occupied by the Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
s, and later it was either a royal residence or a royal demesne
Demesne

In the feudal system, demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, that was retained by a lord for his own use - as distinguished from land "alienated" or granted to others as freehold tenants....
. There is a record of a council held there in 838, at which Egbert of Wessex
Egbert of Wessex

Egbert was King of Wessex from 802 until 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Egbert was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Egbert returned and took the throne....
, King of Wessex, and his son Ethelwulf of Wessex
Ethelwulf of Wessex

?thelwulf, also spelled Aethelwulf or Ethelwulf; Old English language: ??elwulf, means 'Noble Wolf' was the elder son of King Egbert 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
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 kings are traditionally said to have been crowned at Kingston, while seated on a large stone - The Coronation Stone
Coronation Stone

The Coronation Stone is an ancient stone block, located next to the Guildhall in Kingston upon Thames, England. Kingston is now a suburb of London but was once the county town of Surrey....
 - that stands outside the Guildhall
Guildhall, Windsor

The Guildhall in Windsor, Berkshire, England, is the town hall. It is situated in the High Street, about 100 metres from Castle Hill, which leads to the main public entrance to Windsor Castle....
. 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
Domesday Book

The Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror....
 of 1086 as Chingestone and Chingetun(e). It was held by William the Conqueror. Its domesday assets were: a church, five mills
Mill (grinding)

A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them....
, three fisheries
Fishery

Generally, a fishery is a unit, engaged in raising and/or harvesting fish, which is determined by an authority or other entity to be a fishery....
 worth 10s, 27 plough
Plough

The plough is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture....
s, of meadow
Meadow

A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . It may be cut for hay or grazing by livestock such as cattle, sheep or goats....
, woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
 worth six hogs. It rendered £30.

The first of the charters given to the town of Kingston was granted by King John
John of England

John reigned as List of English monarchs from 6 April 1199, until his death. He succeeded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I of England, who died without issue....
 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
Edward IV of England

Edward IV was Kingdom of England from 4 March 1461 until 2 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death....
 charter that gave the town the status of a borough
Borough

A borough is an administrative division of various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
 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
English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
.

Kingston sent members to early Parliament
Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period. In a series of developments, it came increasingly to constrain the power of the King of England, and went on after the Act of Union 1707 to merge with the Parliament of Scotland and form the main basis of the Pa...
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 Municipal Corporations Act 1835
Municipal Corporations Act 1835

The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 - sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales....
, becoming a municipal borough
Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002....
. It retained this status until the London Government Act 1963
London Government Act 1963

The London Government Act 1963 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which recognised officially the conurbation known as Greater London and created a new local government structure for the capital....
 came into force in 1965, merging Kingston upon Thames with Surbiton
Surbiton

Surbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is a commuter town next to the river Thames, populated with a mixture of Art-Deco courts, spacious and grand late-19th century town houses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates....
 and Malden & Coombe
New Malden

New Malden is a town and shopping centre in the south-western London suburbs, mostly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and partly in the London Borough of Merton, and is situated from Charing Cross....
 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
Surrey

Surrey is a counties of England in the South East England of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire....
, 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
British Aerospace

British Aerospace was a United Kingdom aircraft manufacturer, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. In 1999 it purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc to form BAE Systems....
.

The growth and development of Kingston Polytechnic and its transformation into Kingston University
Kingston University

Kingston University is a university in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London.Formerly a polytechnic, it was granted university status in 1992 under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992....
 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 is connected to Twickenham
Twickenham

Twickenham is a town in west London, England.It is the principal town, by population, within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames....
, Richmond, Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London

Wimbledon is a suburb of London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located south west of Charing Cross.For most of the past one hundred years, Wimbledon has been internationally known as the home of the The Championships, Wimbledon....
, and London Waterloo
Waterloo station

London Waterloo is a major railway terminus in London, England owned and operated by Network Rail. It is in the London Borough of Lambeth near the South Bank, in Travelcard Zone 1, and houses a British Transport Police station....
 by overground train.
Kingston Bridge
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
Shopping mall

File:Nordstrom wing , Pentagon City Mall.jpgA shopping mall or shopping centre is a building or set of buildings which contain retail units, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit....
, "The Bentall Centre", containing the Bentalls
Bentalls

Bentalls is an England department store chain with branches in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, and Bracknell, Berkshire. The well regarded 'county' department store began as a drapery Retailing#Shops and stores, founded by Frank Bentall in 1867....
 department store and large branches of chain stores found in many British high streets. There is a large branch of the John Lewis
John Lewis (department store)

John Lewis is a chain of upmarket department stores operating throughout Great Britain and popular amongst the British middle class for its high quality goods....
 department store group, with a Waitrose
Waitrose

Waitrose is the supermarket division of the British retailer the John Lewis Partnership. As of February 2009, there are 198 branches across the United Kingdom....
 supermarket, located in the basement. The Rotunda, located in the former Bentalls furniture depository building (a local landmark), includes a bowling alley
Megabowl

Megabowl is a trading name of Tenpin Ltd, a subsidiary of Georgica PLC.The "Megabowl" brand has gradually been replaced by the new "Tenpin" brand, with only a handful of Megabowl branded sites remaining....
, fitness centre, a 14-screen Odeon
Odeon Cinemas

Odeon Cinemas is the largest chain of movie theater in Europe and is wholly based within the United Kingdom. It is owned by Terra Firma Capital Partners....
 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
Rose Theatre, Kingston

The Rose Theatre, Kingston is a theatre on Kingston High Street in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The theatre is also known as the Rose of Kingston Theatre and seats 1,000 around a wide, lozenge shaped stage ....
 which opened in 2007 with Sir Peter Hall as the director. The ancient market
Market

A market is any one of a variety of different systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby persons trade, and goods and services are exchanged, forming part of the economy....
 is still held daily in the Market Place.

Kingston's civic buildings include the Guildhall which houses Kingston Council
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a London borough in south-west London, England. The main town in the borough is Kingston upon Thames, but it covers a wider area also including places such as Surbiton, Chessington, New Malden and Tolworth....
 and the magistrates' court
Magistrates' Court

A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of Courts of England and Wales in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions....
, There is also the county court
County Court

A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more county, which are administrative divisions within a country....
, a local museum
Museum

A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and entertainment", as defined by the International Coun...
 and public library
Public library

A public library is a library which is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and may be operated by Civil services....
. A short distance away is the new crown court
Crown Court

The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice of England and Wales and the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, one of the constituent parts of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England and Wales....
 building, adjacent to the County Hall Building which houses the main offices of Surrey
Surrey

Surrey is a counties of England in the South East England of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire....
 County Council. Until local government re-organisation in 1965 when Kingston became one of the 33 boroughs of Greater London
Greater London

Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The administrative area was officially created in 1965 and covers the City of London , the City of Westminster and the other 31 London boroughs....
, it was the County Town of Surrey. Guildford
Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region....
 now has this title as Kingston is no longer administered by Surrey. Plans to move these offices to Woking
Woking

Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding Non-metropolitan district, located in the west of Surrey, England....
 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 Gardens towards Teddington Lock
Teddington Lock

Teddington Lock is a lock and weir on the River Thames in England at Ham, London in the western suburbs of London. The lock is on the southern Surrey side of the river....
. Upstream there is a promenade crossing the Hogsmill
Hogsmill

The Hogsmill River in Surrey is one of the tributaries of the River Thames, which rises near Ewell and flows into the Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the reach above Teddington Lock....
 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 box
Red telephone box

The red telephone box, a public telephone booth designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar, and despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, red boxes can still be seen in many places and current or ex-British Colonies around the world....
es that have been tipped up to lean against one another in an arrangement resembling dominoes. This sculpture by David Mach
David Mach

David Mach is a Scotland sculpture and installation artist.Mach's artistic style is based on flowing assemblages of mass-produced found art objects....
 was commissioned in 1988 as part of the landscaping for the new Relief Road, and is called Out of Order.

Sport

Kingston is the home of two non-league Association football
Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world....
 clubs, Kingstonian F.C.
Kingstonian F.C.

Kingstonian Football Club are an England, semi-professional football club that are playing in the Isthmian League First Division South for the 2008-09 in English football....
 and AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon are a semi-professional England association football club affiliated to both the London Football Association and Surrey County Football Association Football Associations....
, both of which play at the Kingsmeadow Stadium.

Kingston Rugby Club is based on the outskirts of the town and Kingston Rowing Club
Kingston Rowing Club

Kingston Rowing Club is an amateur Sport rowing club, based in England, founded in 1858.The club is one of the world's oldest and most successful amateur rowing clubs....
 is based on the River Thames. Kingston Regatta
Kingston Regatta

Kingston Regatta is a Rowing regatta, on the River Thames in England which takes place at Kingston upon Thames, Surrey on the reach above Teddington Lock....
 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, Wych Elm and Willoughby Arms. 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
Syllabub

Syllabub is a traditional Great Britain dessert, popular from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. It is usually made from rich milk or cream seasoned with sugar and lightly curdled with wine or cider....
 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
Richmond Park (UK Parliament constituency)

Richmond Park is a constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
 represented by Susan Kramer
Susan Kramer

Susan Veronica Kramer is a London businesswoman and Liberal Democrats Member of Parliament for Richmond Park .Holborn-born, she was educated at fee paying St Paul's Girls' School and Oxford University, where she was President of the Oxford Union, and took her MBA at the University of Illinois....
; the area south of the railway line (which includes the ancient town centre) is part of Kingston and Surbiton represented by Edward Davey
Edward Davey

Edward Jonathan "Ed" Davey a United Kingdom Member of Parliament. He is the Liberal Democrats representative for Kingston and Surbiton and was Chief of Staff to the party leader Sir Menzies Campbell....
. Both Members of Parliament are members of the Liberal Democrat party.

Ecclesiastically, Kingston lies in the Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
 Diocese of Southwark
Anglican Diocese of Southwark

The Diocese of Southwark forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was formed on May 1, 1905 from part of the Diocese of Rochester....
 and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark
Archdiocese of Southwark

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic archdiocese in England. The Archepiscopal see is St. George's Cathedral, Southwark and is headed by the Archbishop of Southwark....
. The suffragan or Area Bishop of Kingston
Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames

The Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames, often referred to simply as Bishop of Kingston, is an Episcopal polity title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England....
 is the Rt Rev. Dr Richard Ian Cheetham
Richard Ian Cheetham

The Rt Rev. Richard Ian Cheetham is the current Anglican Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames. He was born on 18 August 1955 and educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford....
.

Kingston is also the home of the .

Kingston Green Fair


Kingston Green Fair has been held annually since 1987 in Canbury Gardens, next to the river, on the Spring Bank Holiday
Bank Holiday

A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population not employed in essential services receive them as holidays; those employed in essential services usually receive extra pay for working on these days....
. The word "Green" in the title refers to the ethos of the fair as promoting sustainable development
Sustainable development

Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future....
. 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
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a London borough in south-west London, England. The main town in the borough is Kingston upon Thames, but it covers a wider area also including places such as Surbiton, Chessington, New Malden and Tolworth....
 article.


There are several schools in Kingston including, Kingston Grammar School
Kingston Grammar School

Kingston Grammar School is an independent and highly selective co-educational school in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is noteworthy for being able to trace its roots back to at least the 13th century....
, Canbury School
Canbury School

Canbury School is a small, independent day school in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. With a maximum of 65 pupils on roll, each is treated very much as an individual, hence the school's motto ?An individual approach to success?....
, Marymount International School (MMI)
Marymount colleges

The Marymount Colleges are a group of colleges founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary , an institute with French origins which was founded on February 24, 1849....
, Tiffin School (boys), Tiffin Girls' School
Tiffin Girls' School

The Tiffin Girls' School is an all girls grammar school located in Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. Maintained by the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, the school lies in over nine acres on the east side of Richmond Road....
 and Educare Small School. Kingston is also home to Kingston University
Kingston University

Kingston University is a university in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London.Formerly a polytechnic, it was granted university status in 1992 under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992....
 and Kingston College
Kingston College (England)

Kingston College is a College of Further and Higher Education based in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England. It has three campuses in the town of Kingston....
.

Transport


The town is served by two railway stations on a line into Waterloo Station
Waterloo station

London Waterloo is a major railway terminus in London, England owned and operated by Network Rail. It is in the London Borough of Lambeth near the South Bank, in Travelcard Zone 1, and houses a British Transport Police station....
 via New Malden
New Malden railway station

New Malden railway station is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in South London. The station is served by South West Trains, and is in Travelcard Zone 4 on the borders of London and Surrey....
 and Wimbledon
Wimbledon station

Wimbledon station is a National Rail, London Underground, and Tramlink station located in Wimbledon, London in the London Borough of Merton, and is the only London station that provides an interchange between rail, Underground, and Tramlink services....
 or via Richmond upon Thames (the long way round). The local stations are: Kingston
Kingston railway station

Kingston railway station serves Kingston upon Thames in the London Borough of Kingston upon Thames of the same name.The station, called Kingston Town, opened on 1 July 1863, and at that time was the terminus of the London & South Western Railway branch line from Twickenham....
 and Norbiton
Norbiton railway station

Norbiton railway station serves Norbiton, a suburb in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in south west London. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South West Trains....
. An additional railway station is located on the main line in nearby Surbiton
Surbiton railway station

Surbiton railway station is in Surbiton in Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in South London. The station is managed and served by South West Trains, and is in Travelcard Zone 6....
, 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
Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, Order of the Garter, Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a British Conservative Party politician, statesman, and major figure on the political scene in the interwar years....
 on 28 October 1927. Kingston is also served by the A240
A240 road

The A240 is a part Primary status A roads in Great Britain in Surrey and Greater London , It connects the A217 road with the A3 road and beyond to Kingston upon Thames....
, the A307 (Portsmouth Road)
A307 road

The A307 road is a link road running through SW London and NW Surrey, which is primary at the start but for the most part is now more local in character....
, A308
A308 road

The A308, is a road in England in two parts.*The Brompton, Kensington to Fulham section starts at the A4 road by Brompton Oratory and Victoria and Albert Museum, and follows Fulham Road South West to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where it jumps south a block to follow Kings Road to meet the A219 road in Fulham, close to Putney Bridge....
 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
Victorian literature

Victorian literature is the literature produced during the reign of Victoria of the United Kingdom and corresponds to the Victorian era. It forms a link and transition between the writers of the Romanticism period and the very different literature of the 20th century....
 novel Three Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat

Three Men in a Boat , published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the River Thames between Kingston upon Thames and Oxford....
 by Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome K. Jerome

Jerome Klapka Jerome was an England writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat.Jerome was born in Caldmore, Walsall, England, where there is now a museum in his honour, and was brought up in poverty in London....
 begins; cannons aimed against the Martians in H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells

Herbert George Wells , known by his pen name H. G. Wells, was an England author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction"....
' The War of the Worlds are positioned on Kingston Hill; in The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence

David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an England author, poet, playwright, essayist and literary criticism. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialization....
 the youngest Brangwen dreams of a job in Kingston upon Thames in a long, lyrical passage; Mr. Knightly in Emma by Jane Austen
Jane Austen

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose Literary realism, biting social commentary and masterful use of free indirect speech, Burlesque , and irony have earned her a place as one of the most widely read and most beloved writers in English literature....
 regularly visits Kingston, although the narrative never follows him there. Kingston is referenced (and used as a filming location) in episodes of Monty Python. More recently, a scene from Mujhse Dosti Karoge, a Bollywood
Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Mumbai-based Hindi film industry in India. The term is often used to refer to the whole of Cinema of India....
 film, was filmed by the toppled telephone boxes. This had Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan

'Hrithik Roshan' is an Indian actor working in Bollywood.After having appeared in films as a child actor in the 1980s, Roshan made his film debut in a leading role with the blockbuster Kaho Naa......
 as the leading actor. A scene in the television programme The Good Life sees Richard Briers
Richard Briers

Richard David Briers, Order of the British Empire is an English people actor whose career has encompassed the theatre, television, film and radio....
 get on a 71 bus in 'The Avenue' towards Kingston town centre, albeit this route never served that east side of Surbiton. Nipper
Nipper

Nipper was a dog that served as the model for a painting entitled His Master's Voice, which later became identified with a series of audio recording brands, including RCA....
, 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
Bentalls

Bentalls is an England department store chain with branches in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, and Bracknell, Berkshire. The well regarded 'county' department store began as a drapery Retailing#Shops and stores, founded by Frank Bentall in 1867....
 and John Lewis
John Lewis (department store)

John Lewis is a chain of upmarket department stores operating throughout Great Britain and popular amongst the British middle class for its high quality goods....
 department stores.

Notable people

See also alumini of local schools, colleges and the university
Notable people born in the town include James Squire
James Squire

James Squire , a convict transported to Australia, is credited with the first successful cultivation of hops in Australia at the turn of the 19th century, and is also considered to have founded Australia's first commercial brewery in 1798, though John Boston appears to have opened a brewery making a form of Chicha two years earlier....
 (transported
Penal transportation

Transportation or penal transportation refers to the deportation of convicted criminals to a penal colony, for example by France to Devil's Island and by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and Australia between 1788 and 1868....
 convict
Convict

A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con"....
 and brewer
Brewing

Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation . The term is used for the production of beer, although the word "brewing" is also used to describe the fermentation process used to create wine and mead....
 in Australia) (1754), John Cleland
John Cleland

John Cleland was an England novelist most famous and infamous as the author of Fanny Hill.John Cleland was the oldest son of William Cleland and Lucy Cleland....
 (1709) and John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy

John Galsworthy Order of Merit was an England novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter....
 (1867) (both authors), Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge

Eadweard J. Muybridge was an England List of photographers, known primarily for his early use of multiple cameras to capture motion , and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the celluloid film strip that is still used today....
 (photographer) (1830), John Cooper
John Cooper (car maker)

John Newton Cooper was a co-founder, with his father Charles Cooper, of the Cooper Car Company. Born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, he became an auto racing legend with his rear-engined chassis design that would eventually change the face of the sport at its highest levels, from Formula One to the Indianapolis 500....
 (auto engineer) (1923), Derek Bourgeois
Derek Bourgeois

Derek Bourgeois is an English composer. Educated at University of Cambridge , he spent 2 years at the Royal College of Music studying composition with Herbert Howells and conducting with Sir Adrian Boult....
 (composer) (1941), Dave Swarbrick
Dave Swarbrick

Dave Swarbrick is a British folk music and electric folk fiddle player, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. He has been described by Ashley Hutchings as 'the most influential [British] fiddle player bar none' and his style has been copied or developed by almost every British, and many World, folk violin players that have followed him...
 (folk fiddle player) (1941), Nigel Barley
Nigel Barley

Nigel Barley is an anthropologist famous for the books he has written on his experiences. He studied modern languages at Cambridge University and completed a doctorate in social anthropology at Oxford University....
 (anthropologist) (1947), Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson

Steven John Wilson is the lead guitarist/singer/songwriter and the founder of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Wilson is also a Autodidacticism record producer, audio engineer, guitar and Keyboard instrument player ....
 (musician) (1967), Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers (1971), Jonny Lee Miller
Jonny Lee Miller

Jonathan "Jonny" Lee Miller is an England actor....
 (1972), and Kelly Reilly
Kelly Reilly

Kelly Reilly is an England actress....
 (1977) (both actors) and Steven Reid
Steven Reid

Steven John Reid is an England born Republic of Ireland Association football player who currently plays for Blackburn Rovers F.C. and the Republic of Ireland national football team, primarily as a midfielder....
 (1981) (footballer).

External links