A HISTORY OF SURREY 



was reached. In 1217 the peace between King 

 John and Louis of France was first negotiated at 

 Kingston though signed at Lambeth," and Henry III 

 came herein 1234, 1236," and 1263." In 1238 

 and 1261" assemblies of the barons were held here. 

 Probably the castle captured by Henry III in 1264 

 on his march south to Rochester le was built to cover 

 the bridge on land seized from the manor by Gilbert 

 de Clare, who himself had no land nearer than Long 

 Ditton (q.v.), for Kingston was held in demesne. 

 Kingston, probably from its accessibility, was a fa- 

 vourite place for tournaments. 17 



In 1323 some rebels from the West Country made a 

 disturbance here, 18 and for the next twenty years the 

 country was in an unquiet state. In 1331 William Inge, 

 Archdeacon of Surrey, complained that he had been 

 attacked by no less than forty-six of the men, fishers, 

 and others of Kingston, and imprisoned in the town, 19 

 and two years later Thomas Roscelyn applied for 

 redress against several 6f the chief men of Kingston, 

 who had taken away possessions of his worth 200." 



30 ft. of the bridge having b removed before 

 the insurgents' arrival." 



Until the 1 6th century the exter history of the 

 town centred in the bridge, but withe occupation 

 of Hampton Court as a royal palace igston gained 

 a new importance as a lodging-place r those con- 

 nected with the court, and accordin many orders 

 were issued respecting infection from t p' a g ue > which 

 attacked the town with great violence 1 '625 and 

 1636." During the Civil Wars the i>ortance of 

 holding the bridge caused Kingston to b rr ' sone " 

 by Parliamentary troops, except for a brief ace on 

 14-19 November 1642, when it was held' r tne 

 king, and in 1 644 the City regiments were stJflS^ . , 

 there." In 1 648 when the Earls of Holland and 

 Peterborough and the Duke of Buckingham made a 

 last effort in the royal cause they rose at Kingston, 

 and after a march to Reigate retreated there again, 

 when a skirmish took place near Surbiton Common, 

 in which Lord Francis Villiers was killed, and the 

 Cavaliers routed.' 6 The Committees for Safety and 



KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES 



In 1346 commissioners were appointed to arrest the 

 ' Roberdesmen, Wastries and Draghlaches,' who were 

 harrying the neighbourhood " and who were perhaps 

 responsible for the destruction of Hartington Coombe." 

 Kingston Bridge played a considerable part in the 

 campaign of 1452, when the Duke of York, who had 

 marched from the West Country and had been refused 

 entry into London, was enabled to cross by it into 

 Surrey and take up his position at Blackheath. 

 Wyatt also used this passage in 1554 when, baulked 

 of his intention to enter the city by way of London 

 Bridge, he marched to Kingston. The extremely 

 flimsy nature of the bridge stood the government in 

 good stead, for considerable delay was caused by some 



Sequestrations for Surrey both sat at Kingston, which 

 from its proximity to London and accessibility has 

 always been a centre for local administration. The 

 'general sessions' were held here in 1531," and it 

 was an Assize town until 1884 ;** it was also chosen 

 as a centre by the Surrey County Council, whose 

 fine offices stand in Penrhyn Road. 



There is no evidence to determine at what date 

 the great bridge over the Thames was built, but it was 

 already endowed with lands for its maintenance in 

 1219," when Master William de Coventry was 

 master of the bridge. In 1223 Henry III passing 

 through the town entrusted the work of the bridge to 

 Henry de St. Albans and Matthew son of Geoffrey," 



Floret Hist. (Rolls Ser. KV), ii, 

 165. 

 18 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, pp. 59, 140, 143. 



14 Cal. Chart, 1257-1300, p. 46. 



15 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 204, Royal 

 and Hiit. Letters ... of the Reign of 

 Htn. Ill (Rolls Ser.), ii, 194. 



11 Hemingburgh, Chron. (Engl. Hist. 

 Soc.), ii, 333. 



W Lansd. MS. 225, fol. lot. 

 11 Cal. Pat. 1321-4, p. 385. 

 19 Ibid. 1330-4, p. 205. 

 *> Ibid. p. 503. 

 al Ibid. 1345-8, p. 1 80. 

 82 See below. 



98 Stow, Annals (ed. 1615), 620. 

 44 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1625-6, p.67 5 1636-7, 

 p. 138; 1637, p. 370. 



488 



86 Ibid. 1642-56, fattim; 1644, pp. 92, 

 102, 103, 107, 117. 



26 Ibid. 1648-9, p. 178; Ditt. Nat. 

 Bhg. xxxviii, 403; The Hurly-Burly l 

 Kingston. 



W L. and P. Hen. VIII, v, 429. 



88 Land. Gas. 26 June 1884, p. 2781. 



Feet of F. SUIT. 3 Hen. Ill, no. 22. 



80 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.) i, 558. 



