Who is the Anglo-Saxon at the centre of Kingston’s cultural celebrations this year?
In 925, Athelstan was crowned the first King of England in the market square of Kingston upon Thames.
Athelstan’s coronation signified, for the first time, the coming together of the previously disparate kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, making him the first ruler of a united England.
Athelstan’s place has, however, been overlooked by the history books.
“There are few narrative sources for his reign, so it is not an easy thing to teach at school level,” said Reverend Sarah Foot, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and biographer of Athelstan.
She added: “I think it’s time that we remembered the contribution Athelstan made in the making of an English people.”
To mark the 1,100th anniversary of Athelstan’s coronation, the borough has announced Kingston 2025, a six-month programme of cultural events celebrating the town’s past, present and future.
Kingston 2025 is being welcomed by those who are entirely new to Athelstan’s story as well as those who have been interested in it for decades.
Alan Birkinshaw has lived in Kingston for more than 50 years, but it was only later in life that he discovered its exciting past.
Since then, he has written widely on the topic and is currently working with Kingston University on a virtual reality project that will digitise a bronze sculpture of Athelstan.
He said: “Standing in the same place where a king once stood reminds us that history is not just in books, but beneath our feet, in the very heart of Kingston.”
Birkinshaw hopes that Kingston 2025 will shine a light on the borough’s story. He added: “Despite its central role in shaping English history, Kingston today underappreciates its legacy as ‘where England began’.”
The six-month programme of events launched as Kingston 2025 will begin in May, and include a Saxon fayre, a town tournament a carnival and a river cultures festival.
Details can be found on the Kingston Heritage website.
