Borough of Kingston upon Thames, UK
Kingston upon Thames is a Royal Borough and includes the town of the same name, with some historic structures and an attractive retail area, centred on the Bentall Centre. The borough was historically in the county of Surrey, and not only is the postal county of Surrey sometimes still used for traditional reasons for the borough, but Surrey's administrative headquarters are actually located here.
Most areas of present South London were once towns and villages in the counties of Surrey and Kent outside London, which were assimilated by London as it expanded rapidly in the 19th & 20th centuries. Surrey and Kent are still used as part of the official postal addresses for some areas of south London.
The M25 passes near the south end of the borough. Junction 9 (Leatherhead) quickly connects with the A243. The A3 is the main London to Portsmouth road and it runs through the borough before heading west to Guildford.
The borough has nine railway stations which cover much of the area and all are served by the same Central London station, London Waterloo (which is linked to Waterloo East). A significant transport hub in the borough is Surbiton, with regular fast trains to London Waterloo and a network of buses that stop outside the station and go to all parts of the borough. Kingston is the major station for the town proper. All rail services are provided by South Western Railway.
Plan and Book:
Kingston upon Thames: See and Do
Kingston is mostly pedestrian friendly, and most places can be easily reached on foot. It has the most extensive range of shops in the southeast of England outside central London, and is very popular, especially at weekends. Virtually all major chains have branches there, as well as several independent shops and boutiques.
Bentall centre in Clarence Steet s Kigston's biggest shopping mall. A four-storey mall, it is anchored by a multi-level department store, Bentalls, which sells high-end fashion, home ware and specialty food products. John Lewis is the other main department store in town and is noted for quality. It has a branch of Waitrose supermarket in the basement.
Kingston Marketplace was historically at the heart of Kingston's prosperity, benefiting from a Royal Charter forbidding any other markets within seven miles. Today it mostly sells fruit and vegetables, although there are some other stalls. There are also occasional visiting markets from France and Germany that sell regional produce and takeaway food and drink.
Whilst not full of sights, an item of some interest at Kingston is the coronation stone, on which seven English kings from Edward the Elder to Aethelred the Unready were crowned. The stone is located outside the Guildhall, and is close to the market.
Kingston borough has put a lot of effort into redeveloping the riverfront, and it is an extrememly pleasant way to spend a summer day. It can get very busy, and to avoid the crowds you can cross over Kingston bridge and walk along the quieter Richmond side.You can also bike along the riverside by following the Thames path to Richmond upon Thames, Kew (home of the botanical gardens) and beyond into Barnes and Putney. In the opposite direction you will find Hampton Court, which has open air picnic concerts during the summer months.
For a good photo opportunity seek out the phone boxes, a sculpture by artist David Mach in Old London Road featuring a number of disused red telephone box leaning against each other like dominoes.
All Saints Church is Kingston's old parish church, found near the market place goes. It was built in the sixteenth century on earlier foundations. Inside, for those interested in military history, is a chapel dedicated to a former local regiment, the East Surreys.
Chessington
A town of somw 20,000 people, Chessington sits on Bonesgate Stream, a tributary of the Hogsmill River. An ancient settlement, it appears in the Domesday Book as Cisedune and Cisendone. It was held partly by Robert de Wateville and partly by Milo (Miles) Crispin. Its Domesday assets were: 1½ hides; part of a mill worth 2s, 4 ploughs, woodland worth 30 hogs.
Chessington World of Adventures is a popular amusement park and zoo near the southern end of Kingston borough. The zoo has at least 1,000 different types of animal, and the World of Adventures is divided into several attractions, which include Market Square, Mystic East, Mexicana, Pirates Cove, Transylvania, and Forbidden Kingdom. To get there, take Buses 71 and 465 from Kingston, or by rail from London Waterloo to Chessington South.
The mansion at Chessington World of Adventures, known today as the Burnt Stub, was originally built in 1348. In the English Civil War it became a royalist stronghold and was razed to the ground by Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary forces, giving it its modern name. The site became an inn and was then rebuilt on a grander scale from the 18th century by the Vere Barker family in a Neo-Gothic Victorian style. The grounds were turned into a zoo in 1931 by Reginald Goddard.
The former farmhouse Barwell Court (on Barwell Lane) was used as a recording and residential studio during the 1970s through to the 1990s. Chessington Hall has a place in 18th-century literary history, as home of Samuel Crisp, a failed playwright and close friend of Fanny Burney. At 207 Hook Road is a Blue plaque commemorating the author Enid Blyton who lived at the address between 1920 and 1924. Other notable residents include racing drivers Harry Hawker and Sir Jack Brabham, singers Eroll Brown (Hot hocolate), Bob Geldof and Petula Clark.
New Malden
A neighbour of Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes Park, Surbiton, Tolworth, Wimbledon, Old Malden, and Worcester Park, New Malden is 15 km from Charing Cross. New Malden suffered damage from German bombing during the Second World War. The first attack took place on 16 August 1940, killing about 50 people and damaging about 1,300 homes. After dropping about 150 bombs, German aircraft reportedly flew over the railway station at low altitude and machine-gunned passengers as they disembarked from a train. Unexploded munitions from this period are still found on occasion.
New Malden has one of the largest expatriate communities of South Koreans in Europe, and is said to be one of the most densely populated areas of Koreans outside South Korea. New Malden functions as the shopping and cultural centre for a Korean population spread more widely across South-West London and the neighbouring counties. There is a Hindu temple in the eastern part of Burlington Road with a notable community of predominantly Sri Lankan Tamils living in the area.
New Malden railway station has services provided by South Western Railway to London Waterloo, Hampton Court, Kingston, Richmond and Shepperton. It is in London Zone 4. The Old Malden area is well served by trains from Malden Manor railway station, travelling north to London Waterloo and south to Chessington. Motspur Park railway station on the New Malden/Raynes Park borders also has rail connections to Chessington South, Epsom, Leatherhead and Dorking.
Surbiton
A suburban neighbourhood next to the River Thames, Surbiton is 18 km southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton possesses a mixture of grand 19th-century townhouses, Art Deco courts, and more recent residential blocks blending in with semi-detached 20th-century housing estates. With a population of 45,132 in 2016, it accounts for approximately 25% of the total population of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
The Cooper Car Company was based in a garage on Hollyfield Road from 1946 to 1968, celebrating wins in the Formula One Constructors Championships in 1959 and 1960 and developing the iconic Mini Cooper in 1961. The guitarist and singer-songwriter Eric Clapton purchased one of his first guitars from a shop in Surbiton called Bells; the shop has since closed.
Surbiton is popularly remembered as an icon of suburbia in such British television programmes as The Good Life (starring Richard Briers, Penelope Keith, Paul Eddington and Felicity Kendal), though location filming was done in Northwood, North-West London.
Surbiton station features in the 2009 film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with actors Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore. Filming took place in November 2007. The station also appears in Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, a 1989 ITV adaptation of the short story by Agatha Christie. The station reflects the 1930s Art Deco style that often featured in locations used in the series.