“How Kingston came to be Kingston” ~ February 2025
Robert Briggs of the Surrey Archeological Society talked about why Kingston upon Thames exists, and what is known about the town's past from early medieval times onwards.
For more information on the Surrey Archaeological Society, go to; https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk
A fascinating talk about the origins of Kingston from Roman and medieval times, through to the town's early medieval past, eventually becoming a reiverside market town.
Robert talked about why Kings were crowned here from the 10th Century, what the place name signifies, if St Mary’s Chapel and the Coronation Stone have any historical basis, and many other aspects of the town's history.
Kingston was not a town in Roman times and even in Anglo-Saxon times and seems to have grown from a collection of farms. The name does not refer to the crowning of Kings, but rather comes from the word Cyningestun as mentioned in a Charter of 838 when a royal/ecclesiastical assembly took place here. This assembly is thought to be the spark for Kingston’s re-emergence as England’s premier royal consecration site in the 10th century ~ the first king known to have been crowned here was Æthelstan in 925.
Robert Briggs
Coronation Stone
Market Place