earliest
royal borough. It was first mentioned in 838 as the site of a meeting between
King Egbert of Wessex and Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury. Kingston lay on
the boundary between the ancient kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, until in the
early tenth century when King Athelstan united both to create the kingdom of
England. Probably because of the town's symbolic location, several
tenth-century kings were crowned in Kingston, Æthelstan in 925, Eadred in 946
and Æthelred in 979. Other kings who may have been crowned there are Edward the
Elder in 902, Edmund in 939, Eadwig in 956, Edgar in about 960 and Edward the
Martyr in 975. It was later thought that the coronations took place in the
chapel of St Mary, which collapsed in 1730, and a large stone recovered from
the ruins has been regarded since the eighteenth century as the Coronation
Stone. It was initially used as a mounting block, but in 1850 it was moved to a
more dignified place in the market before finally being moved to its current
location in the grounds of the guildhall.
Economic development
For much of the 20th century, Kingston was a major military aircraft
manufacturing centre specialising in fighter aircraft – first with Sopwith
Aviation, H G Hawker Engineering, later Hawker Aircraft, Hawker Siddeley and
eventually British Aerospace. The legendary Sopwith Camel, Hawker Fury,
Hurricane, Hunter and Harrier were all designed and built in the town and
examples of all of these aircraft can be seen today at the nearby Brooklands
Museum in Weybridge. Well known aviation personalities Sydney Camm, Harry
Hawker and Tommy Sopwith were responsible for much of Kingston's achievements
in aviation. British Aerospace finally closed its Lower Ham Road factory in
1992; part of the site was subsequently redeveloped for housing but the
riverside part houses a community centre and sports
