Kingston, Kent
village and civil parish in Kent, England, UK
Kingston is a village and civil parish between Canterbury and Dover in Kent, South East England. The parish contains the hamlet of Marley.
History
The Kingston Brooch, an important piece of Anglo-Saxon jewellery dating from the 7th Century, was discovered in a tumulus on Kingston Downs in 1771 by the Reverend Bryan Faussett (1720–1776), then Rector of Kingston. It is 8 cm in diameter, made of gold, with garnet, blue glass and shell settings. It is now on display in the World Museum in Liverpool.
Geography
The village is centred 5 miles south east of the city centre of Canterbury on the edge of the North Downs in rolling hilly countryside that is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Religious sites
The local church, dedicated to Saint Giles, originated during the 11th century, and is now part of the Barham Downs group of churches. The walls of the nave and about two-thirds of the present chancel are thought to be original, the chancel being extended in the 13th century. The font is also said to date from the 13th Century. The tower of a windmill stands some distance from the village.
“Kingston, Kent” enters the record as village and civil parish in Kent, England, UK. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kingston, Kent and village can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Kingston, Kent” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Kingston, Kent and village provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2749435. Authority coordinates are 51.218, 1.149. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1771, 1720 and 1776.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Kingston, Kent”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Kingston, Kent primary sources, Kingston, Kent archive and Kingston research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kingston, Kent”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Kingston, Kent” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.