Kingston removals

Early Days

We’ll begin by clearing one common misunderstanding up, Kingston was not named after a coronation stone. As lovely as that natural assumption may be, it’s sadly untrue, however Kingston-upon-Thames was the centre of a number of coronations.

The name actually begins in 838 when King Egbert of Wessex held his royal council (witan) at the location, with his barons in attendance. The site was undoubtedly picked as it sat on the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex, so Egbert could flaunt his status in front of the Mercian noblemen. Thus the location became kings tun, “Cyninges tun” or king’s settlement.

900s

Over the next 200 years a succession of Wessex kings were crowned at the same spot, Edward the Elder (900), Athelstan (925), Edmund (940), Edred (946), Edwy (955), and Edward the Martyr (971), and while there is an ‘ancient stone’ still on display it didn’t turn up until the 1700s (the Chapel of St Mary claiming it was the ‘King’s Stone’) and it’s unlikely it was actually used in the coronations.

When William the Conqueror rocked up with his fancy Norman clothes and good hygiene, Kingston (by now referred to as ‘Kingeston’) was a very important and substantial settlement. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as having 5 watermills, a pond and a church and was worth a whopping 30 pounds. William broke with tradition and was coronated in some little place called Westminster Abbey (“Never heard of it!”) but despite the snub, Kingston continued to prosper. The wool trade did well and the town earned a charter giving townsfolk more rights and permission to hold a weekly market.

13^th Century

Medieval Kingston upon Thames was also an inland port with a great many traders, this made it a target and in the Second Barons’ War (1264–1267) the town was ‘burned and robbed’ several times, with the wealthy Jewish merchants singled out as targets. In 1351 the town was granted two annual fairs. Essentially these were grand markets with added entertainment and the occasional drunken incident, but the whole life in Kingston was good.

17^th Century

The plague struck twice in 1625 and in 1636, killing a large proportion of the population, in some cases entire families. Four years later it was the outbreak of war that changed the landscape. Kingston was held by Parliament until the Battle of Edge Hill when they were forced to flee and the King’s troops sacked the town. The Parliamentarian forces soon came back but weren’t happy with Kingston locals, many of whom supported the king.

19^th Century

In 1841 Kingston’s population stood at just over 8,000 people. The arrival of the railway in 1838 changed all that. It created a population boom that in turn led to an even greater boom in transport; in 1875 horse-drawn buses began running, in 1906 electric trams took to the streets, they were replaced by buses in 1931. By 1941, in just 100 years, the population had surpassed 115,000!!

Modern Day

Kingston’s population and popularity continue to grow. The leafy suburb is once more on the up with its weather friendly café culture, lively events calendar and artisan food scene. There’s never been a better time for moving to Kingston upon Thames.

Kingston Removals Company
Whether you are moving to or from Kingston, or beyond, we pride ourselves on making the experience as hassle-free and streamlined as possible. With over 160 years of experience as a leading UK removal company, our personable, expert removals team will take the stress out of moving home or office.

The benefit of ‘staying local’ when booking Kingston removals…

• Employing a local removals company in Kingston means we spend less travelling time to your residence.
• Unrivalled geographical knowledge of Kingston & the surrounding areas.
• We know the traffic flow, best times of day to move and where to park.
• We offer overnight storage (or for as long as you require) at our nearby Hampshire-based storage facilities.
• Our size allows us to be more competitive than many other local removal companies across Hampshire, Surrey & Berkshire
• Free removal estimates and removals advice before, during and after your move!
• We employ local people doing local work

Secure Household Storage in Kingston
Are you a homeowner requiring long or short term household storage for furniture and personal effects for which you no longer have room? Do you need secure flexible household storage at short notice, with the minimum of fuss?

With our multiple, large, secure purpose-built Hampshire storage facilities located in Aldershot, Farnborough and Petersfield, we can cater for all your storage needs. We can also arrange to collect and storage your belongings on your behalf. Please visit our Storage Service for further details.

Why use Over’s for your storage needs?

• Our household & commercial storage prices are cheaper than most other storage facilities in Hampshire and Surrey
• Flexible storage – we can even deliver, collect and store your belongings for you
• Friendly staff available on site: our experienced warehouse staff will be on hand to assist customers with packaging, loading and unloading.
• Our facilities incorporate the latest sophisticated fire and security systems

Of course, it’s not just the calibre of our personnel that matters. We are also proud of our modern fleet of specialised removal vehicles, lifting equipment, packaging and dedicated storage facilities to help us best cater to all your storage requirements.