Business improvement districts in London

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 28. Chapters: Angel, Islington, Bankside, Camden Town, Ealing, Hammersmith, Ilford, Kingston upon Thames, Leytonstone, List of business improvement districts in London, London Riverside, Victoria, London, Waterloo, London, West End of London. Excerpt: Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now situated 10 miles (16.1 km) south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Though it now lies outside the borders of the County of Surrey, Kingston remains the location of the administrative headquarters of Surrey County Council. The Coronation Stone in the grounds of the guildhallKingston was called Cyninges tun in 838, Chingestune in 1086, Kingeston in 1164, Kyngeston super Tamisiam in 1321 and Kingestowne upon Thames in 1589. The name means 'the king's manor or estate' from the Old English words cyning and tun. It belonged to the king in Saxon times and was the 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, and in the early tenth century Wessex absorbed Mercia into 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. For much of the 20th century, Kingston was a major military aircraft manufacturing centre specialising in fighter aircraft - first with Sopwith Aviatio