Kingston upon Thames | Royal Borough, London, UK History & Attractions (2024)

Kingston upon Thames, royal borough and outer borough of London, England, about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of central London. It lies on the south bank of the River Thames and is part of the historic county of Surrey. The present borough was established in 1965 by amalgamation of the former royal borough of Kingston upon Thames with the borough of Malden and Coombe and the borough of Surbiton (all in Surrey). It includes four neighbourhoods: Kingston Town, Maldens and Coombe, South of the Borough, and Surbiton. The government offices for the administrative county of Surrey are in the borough.

The area became an early transportation centre because the Thames was fordable there. Kingston’s strength as a commercial centre increased markedly with the completion of a bridge across the river by the 12th century. The present Kingston Bridge was built in 1828, and the borough is traversed by the Kingston By-Pass.

Kingston was recorded as Cyningestun (“King’s Estate”) in 838 ce, when a Saxon council met in the town, and 30 royal charters were granted to it between 1200 and 1685. During the English Civil Wars, one of the last battles was fought in 1648 at Surbiton, where Lord Francis Villiers, son of the duke of Buckingham, was killed in a failed attempt to rally support for the imprisoned Charles I. Tradition holds that seven Anglo-Saxon kings were crowned in Kingston in the 10th century, and their Coronation Stone now stands in the grounds of the modern Guildhall.

A market at Kingston flourished from at least the 13th century, and in 1628 Charles I banned any other markets within a 7-mile (11-km) radius of the town. Today markets are still regularly held in Kingston’s historic Market Place, and the town remains one of Outer London’s main shopping destinations. The original store of the Bentalls department-store chain, although no longer owned by its founding family, has been in the town since 1867 and became the anchor for a large shopping centre. The construction of another department store in the late 1980s resulted in the unearthing of a medieval undercroft and the remains of a 12th-century bridge.

Brewing and tanning, once major industries in Kingston, no longer exist there. However, a boatbuilding tradition that dates from the 18th century continues, in tandem with the operation of a paddle steamer that runs between Kingston and Hampton Court, along with other destinations. When Hampton Court Palace was built in the 16th century, a freshwater supply was piped all the way from Coombe, and the conduit houses can still be seen there.

In 1912 Tommy (later Sir Thomas) Sopwith started manufacturing airplanes at Kingston, including the Sopwith Camel. The Sopwith Aviation Company Ltd. eventually evolved into Hawker Aircraft Ltd., which built Hawker Hurricane fighters before and during World War II and later built the Hawker Hunter jet aircraft. In its final incarnation as a part of British Aerospace, the company manufactured Harrier jump jets before its Kingston operations were closed in 1992.

Frances Burney, the 18th–19th-century novelist, often stayed in the Chessington area of Kingston. The 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon attended school at Kingston, and the 19th-century artists William Holman Hunt and Sir John Millais had associations with Surbiton and its environs. The photographer and motion-picture pioneer Eadweard Muybridge was born in Kingston upon Thames. Novelist and playwright John Galsworthy spent his early life in Kingston, and the Robin Hill house in The Forsyte Saga is based on Galsworthy’s memories of the Kingston Hill area of Coombe. Enid Blyton taught in Kingston.

Kingston Grammar School was founded by Elizabeth I in 1561. The Kingston Museum (1904) has changing exhibits on local history as well as three permanent galleries, one on Muybridge. Kingston University has four campuses. Kingston is close to Hampton Court and Richmond Park. Kingston is also the home of the Rose of Kingston Theatre.

Kingston upon Thames is mainly residential, but it also contains one of Outer London’s major shopping centres. Local industries include light engineering and manufacturing. Area 14 square miles (38 square km). Pop. (2001) 147,273; (2011) 160,060.