Kingston upon Thames History

KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES, a parish, post and market town, and municipal borough, in the first division of the hundred of Kingston, county Surrey, 10 miles from Vauxhall Bridge, 10 from Hyde Park Corner, and 12 S.W. of London. It is a station on the South-Western railway. A railway diverging from the Windsor line at Twickenham also runs into the Old Town. It is situated at the junction of the New-Mill river, formerly called Hogsmill or Ewell, with the Thames.

It was called by the Saxons Moreford, but subsequently took the name of Kyningestun, from its having been held in royal demesne, and the place in which many of the Saxon kings were crowned, among whom were Athelstan, Edwin, Ethelred, Edward the Elder, Edmund, Edward the Martyr, and Eldred. Near to the assize court is the coronation stone of the above kings, which is 3½ feet long. It was newly railed in 1850, when coins of the same kings were placed therein.

Kingston of late has greatly increased in population, and contains many handsome villas, the residences of merchants and tradesmen residing in London. The town is well paved, lighted with gas, and well supplied with water, partly by pumps and partly from a conduit on Combe-hill, the water of which is conveyed by pipes under the river Thames, laid down by Cardinal Wolsey for the supply of Hampton Court Palace. The streets have been much widened and improved, and near the station of the South-Western railway an entirely now town has been formed.

The noble five-arched bridge of Portland stone connecting Hampton Wick with Kingston was completed in 1828, at a cost of £40,000, in lieu of a wooden one built prior to the reign of Henry III. In connection with this bridge we may mention a curious petition still extant in the Public Record Office, of the king's footmen to Charles II. praying a grant of the fines which may he imposed on the bailiffs of Kingston (they prosecuting the suit at their own charges), for pulling down a part of Kingston Bridge, purposely to raise a benefit for the bailiffs there by the use of ferry boats to convey passengers, in consequence of which abuse, no watch being kept at the bridge, two children were drowned in the night.

There are malt houses, corn, flax, and oil mills, with breweries and a distillery. The public buildings are, the townhall, house of correction, now used for the barracks of the county militia, county court, gas works, corn and cattle market, union poorhouse, burial board, and police station. Kingston is governed by a mayor, 8 aldermen, and 24 councillors, and is divided into four wards, each ward returning six members.

A county court is held every fourth Tuesday for the parishes in Kingston hundred, and petty sessions are held every Thursday for the county, and every Wednesday for the borough. The quarter sessions are held in October. The Lent assizes are also held here. It is a polling place for East Surrey, and was once a parliamentary borough, returning members to the parliaments from 4 Edward II. to 47 Edward III.

The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Winchester, value £500, in the patronage of King's College, Cambridge. The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, has been lately restored. It is an ancient cruciform structure with a tower rising from the intersection, formerly surmounted by a spire, which, having been destroyed by lightning in 1703, was taken down, and a portion of the church, of great antiquity, fell in 1730. The interior contains two brasses, one of which is to Skerne, the founder of the chantry, whose wife was daughter to Alice Piere, Edward III.'s mistress, and wife of Sir W. de Wyndeson, of Down Hall; also a monument to Bute, physician of Charles I.

In addition to the parish church, there are six district churches, at Ham, St. Andrew's, Norbiton Hook, St. Paul's, Robin-Hood Gate for Kingston Vale, Surbiton, and Christ Church, the livings of which are all perpetual curacies, varying in value from £600 to £80. The district church of St. Mark at Surbiton was consecrated in 1845. The old church, with figures of the Saxon kings, fell, down in 1775. The church of St. Peter, at the Norbiton end of the village, which was erected at the cost of £4,000 by subscriptions, is a handsome building of brick, with a square tower containing one bell. The charities produce about £1,182 per annum. There are Alderman Cleave's almshouses for 12 poor aged men and women. At Norbiton is the Cambridge asylum for soldiers' widows, the foundation stone of which was laid by the late Prince Consort in 1852. It has a chapel adjoining.

There are grammar, blue-coat, National, and infant schools. The Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics, have places of worship. Many Roman antiquities have been discovered in the immediate vicinity of the town, which induced Dr. Gale to identify this place as occupying the site of the ancient Tamesa mentioned by the geographer of Ravenna. On digging the foundation of the new bridge across the river, several Roman military weapons were found.

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003] These pages are intended for personal use only, so please respect the conditions of use.