Kingston upon Thames, on the south bank of the River Thames has existed for many hundreds of years. Many Roman relics have been found in the surrounding areas. A church has stood on the site of All Saints' Church, in the centre of Kingston, for more than a thousand years. An earlier church was sacked by the Vikings in 1009 AD. Kingston was the site of the coronations of seven Anglo-Saxon monarchs:
The Coronation Stone, on which they are said to have been crowned stands outside the local council offices, the Guildhall. A coin from the reign of each of those kings is set into the base of the stone.
The Saxon Coronation Stone
The borough was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal boroughs of Kingston-upon-Thames (which itself was a Royal Borough, transferring that designation to the merged entity), Malden and Coombe and Surbiton. At time of the merger the new borough was transferred from the county of Surrey and added as an administrative part of Greater London. The current name of the borough omits hyphens to distinguish it from the similarly named former municipal borough. Kingston also contains County Hall, the former seat of Surrey County Council.
It was part of Surrey for postal purposes until postal counties were abolished in 1996. Districts mainly use the KT postcode, except from the parts of Ham in the borough which use the TW code, and the Kingston Vale area in the north-east which has an SW15 postcode.
A map showing the wards of Kingston upon Thames since 2002Kingston upon Thames Guildhall is the home of the Borough CouncilLogo of the Kingston Council until 2014
In 1997 the Liberal Democrats won both seats. Dr Jenny Tonge took Richmond Park constituency and in 2005 Susan Kramer became its Liberal Democrat MP with a majority of 3,731 but she was beaten in the May 2010 election by Conservative Zac Goldsmith with a majority of 4,091. Goldsmith retained his seat at the 2015 general election, with a greatly increased majority of 23,015.[7] Goldsmith stood as an Independent candidate in the by-election held on 1 December 2016, but was defeated by Sarah Olney, a Liberal Democrat, after the Conservative Party decided not to put forward its own candidate.[8] Goldsmith regained the seat for the Conservatives in the 2017 general election with a significantly reduced majority of 45 votes.[9] Sarah Olney then regained the seat during the 2019 general election.[10]
In 1997 Edward Davey overturned the previous Conservative majority of more than 10,000 in Kingston and Surbiton, to win by 56 votes after three recounts. He retained the seat in 2001 with a majority of 15,676 over the Conservative candidate David Shaw. In 2005 Davey's majority was 8,961, and in the May 2010 general election he again retained the seat with a slightly reduced majority, beating the Conservative candidate Helen Whately. In the 2015 general election, Davey's seat was taken by ConservativeJames Berry[11] with a majority of 2,834. Davey's was one of six Liberal Democrat losses in London and 49 overall as the party suffered its worst election results since its formation in 1988.[12] Davey regained the seat in the 2017 general election.[13]
The borough council was controlled by the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1986, when a short-lived SDP-Liberal Alliance minority administration took over. It lost several by-elections due to its attempt to abolish the borough's grammar school system. The Conservatives regained control in 1987. The 1990 election gave no party a majority but the Conservatives kept power with the casting vote of the mayor.
In 2011, Councillor Tim Dennen resigned from the Liberal Democrat group to sit as an independent member.[14]
On Tuesday 11 June 2013 Derek Osborne was arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, following his release on bail he resigned the Liberal Democrat group, as leader of Kingston Council and as a councillor for Beverley Ward.[15] Osborne pleaded guilty and was subsequently jailed for 2 years in October 2013.[16] The Conservatives comfortably won the by-election following the resignation of the former leader of the council.[17]
In 2014 the Conservatives gained a majority of 8 at the local elections, bucking a trend of the Liberal Democrats retaining control in their heartlands.[18]
The Liberal Democrats regained control of the council in 2018 with a large majority of 39 seats compared to the Conservatives' 9 seats.[19]
Modern Kingston
Surrey County Hall Clock Tower
Kingston benefits from one of the biggest and most visited shopping areas outside of central London, with a varied selection of high street stores, and a large number of independent boutiques and retailers.
Kingston has many attractions in and near it, ranging from nature and historical attractions to theme parks.
Some of the borough's attractions are:
Chessington World of Adventures. Resort in the south of the borough. The closest railway station is Chessington South. Chessington is one of the UK's premier theme parks attracting thousands of visitors from all around the UK to its rides, aquarium and zoo.
Thames Riverside. A walkway beside the Thames at Kingston and Surbiton, it has a variety of restaurants.
Coronation Stone. Situated outside The Guildhall in Kingston, this ancient rock was the crowning point of some of England's early kings.
Richmond Park. One of the world's largest urban parks, its Kingston Gate is situated within the borough's boundary.
Kingston Town Centre. One of London's biggest shopping destinations, with hundreds of shops, cafes and restaurants, as well as a large entertainment complex, including an Odeon Cinema and Tenpin Bowling. Also in the town centre is a historic market which has been running for hundreds of years.
Rose Theatre. An 822-seat theatre in the centre of Kingston.
Bentall Centre (a shopping centre). It is home to over 75 shops (including the Bentalls department store), restaurants and other services.
Economy
Kingston is the 3rd largest retail centre by employment, in London.
Sega Amusements International, responsible for the production of arcade games outside Japan, has its head office in Chessington, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.[20] Lidl relocated its UK Headquarters to Kingston in 2020.[21]
Industry
Sopwith Aviation Company had a factory in the Canbury Park area of Kingston, where the famous Sopwith Camel was produced during World War I. The Hawker Hurricane was designed in a site in Kingston town centre and built in the aviation factory near Ham now known as the Hawker Centre.
Education
Primary responsibility for education in the borough lies with the local education authority.
Coaching interests in Kingston opposed the plan of the London and Southampton Railway to run its line to Southampton near Kingston. The line consequently avoided the town with a station opened in 1838 southwest of the town; it was later resited to the present site of Surbiton station.
In 1863 a branch was built from Twickenham to a terminus in Kingston. That line was extended to the main line in 1869 to form the Kingston Loop Line.
All rail services in the borough are operated by South Western Railway, who provide regular services to and from London Waterloo.
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: driving a car or van, 26.1% of all residents aged 16–74; train, 7.1%; bus, minibus or coach, 7.1%; on foot, 6.9%; work mainly at or from home, 4.3%; bicycle, 2.8%; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 2.5%.[22]
Coat of arms
Arms of the Former Municipal Boroughs of Malden and Coombe (top left) and Surbiton (top right), whose crests and supporters respectively were added to the Kingston's coat of arms in 1966 (bottom)
The Kingston coat of arms displays three salmon and its shield is almost identical to the coat of arms of the Swedish municipality of Laholm. Both coats of arms can be traced back to the 16th century. The arms of the Norwegian town of Mandal is also similar, but more recent.
Although not officially 'twinned', The Royal Borough of Kingston has a partner city of Oldenburg in Germany and Gwanak-gu, an administrative subdivision of Seoul, in South Korea. Some road signs announce that Kingston is linked with Delft in the Netherlands but this official link has ended.[24]
Sport and leisure
The Borough of Kingston upon Thames has several football clubs in its area:
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