Kingston, KT1

Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London.

It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a lively suburb situated 10 miles (16.1 km) south west of Charing Cross. It is one of ten major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan.

Central Kingston is a busy predominantly retail centre, with a small number of commercial offices and civic buildings. It has a great many car parks, connected by a notoriously difficult one-way system. It is one of the main centres of the south west London bus network, and it is connected to Twickenham, Richmond, Wimbledon, and London Waterloo by overground train.

Shopping is well catered for and is generally towards the upper end of expectations, with a good mixture of familiar High Street chains and more select boutiques. The shopping centre includes a shopping mall called "The Bentall Centre" that contains the Bentalls department store and large branches of chain stores found in many British high streets. There is a large branch of the John Lewis department store with a Waitrose supermarket in the basement. The Rotunda near the railway station includes a bowling alley, fitness centre, a 14-screen Odeon multiplex cinema and some restaurants. Recent developments along the riverside south of Kingston Bridge have added bars, restaurants and a theatre, the Rose of Kingston - due to open in 2007 with Sir Peter Hall as the director. The ancient market is still held daily in the Market Place.

Kingston's civic buildings include the Guildhall which houses Kingston Council, the magistrates' court, the county court, and a local museum and public library. The main offices of Surrey County Council are also in County Hall Kingston, even though Kingston is not administered by Surrey. Plans to move these offices to Woking have been scrapped.

One of the more unusual sights in Kingston is several disused red telephone boxes that have been tipped up to lean against one another in an arrangement resembling dominoes. This sculpture by David Mach was commissioned in 1988, and is called Out of Order.

The Druid's Head in Kingston is notable as one of the first taverns to make the famous dessert syllabub in the 18th century.

Another recent novelty is the Toilet Gallery, a minimalist art gallery housed in an ex-public lavatory near the Phone Box sculpture.

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