Kingston upon Thames, also known as
Kingston, 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. Kingston is situated southwest of
Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the
London Plan. Kingston lies approximately 10 metres (33 ft) above sea level. Kingston was part of a
large ancient parish in the county of
Surrey and the town was an
ancient borough, reformed in 1835. It has been the location of
Surrey County Hall from 1893, extraterritorially in terms of local government administration since Kingston became part of
Greater London in 1965. Most of the town centre is part of the
KT1 postcode area, but some areas north of
Kingston railway station have the postcode KT2 instead. The population of the town itself, comprising the four wards of Canbury, Grove, Norbiton and Tudor, was 43,013 in the 2011 census.