Comment Post

Kingston upon Thames: ‘Where England Began’, and bad history - by Robert J S Briggs by Andy B on Wednesday, 08 April 2020

Long and interesting read if you're interested:

Kingston upon Thames: ‘Where England Began’, and bad history for good (and not-so-good) causes?
Posted on January 14, 2019 by Robert J S Briggs

Kingston upon Thames as a 21st-century town wears its “Anglo-Saxon” history more prominently and proudly than most, and not without good reason; it was demonstrably one of the most significant locales in South-East Britain in the later Anglo-Saxon period (broadly the 9th-11th centuries CE). But how does it commemorate and communicate this past?

One of Kingston's main car parks is named after the (probably incorrect) belief that seven kings were crowned there in the Anglo-Saxon period

But Kingston is also in the habit of clinging on to much more poorly-evidenced stories, not least the astonishing persistence of the idea that the so-called Coronation Stone was an integral part of the coronation ceremonies known or otherwise suggested to have been held there in the tenth century.

More at
https://surreymedieval.wordpress.com/2019/01/14/kingston-upon-thames-where-england-began-and-bad-history-for-good-and-not-so-good-causes/

Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road