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Kingston
In 836 or 838AD an alliance was agreed between Egbert, King of the West Saxons, and Archbishop Ceolnoth. The meeting took place at Kingston, which was already established as a major fording point of the Thames. Its importance increased in 902, when Edward the Elder was crowned here, King of the West Saxons, as were his successors, throughout the 10th Century.
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Bishop's Hall, Kingston, c1860 |
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Kingston Bridge from Downhall, c1810 |
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Location, location, location
Around 1200 a wooden bridge was built at Kingston, and for over 500 years there were no other bridges between this crossing and London Bridge. This ensured that the town was an important location for negotiations, tournaments and trade, and of military importance during the civil war.
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A Court of Pie Powder
In 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt led a rebellion against Mary I, and her intended marriage and alliance to the catholic Philip II of Spain. The citizens of Kingston deliberately damaged their own bridge to Hinder Wyatt's rebellion.
In 1556, the town was rewarded with Letters Patent, granting it a third fair on the feast of St Mary Magdalene, and on the following day, a Court of Pie Powder. The dues from the fair and a fish weir in the Thames were to pay for the repair and maintenance of the bridge.
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Letters Patent |
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Court of assembly minute book, 1680 |
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Cart rage
Traffic jams are often assumed to be a modern problem. In the Court of Assembly minute book of 1680, a solution to the same problem had to be found for Kingston bridge. It states that on fair and market days, if two carts meet on the bridge, empty ones must give way to loaded ones. Documents such as this, preserved by the Kingston Museum and History Service, give an insight into the daily life of the period.
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Introduction
Kingston
