Kingston upon Thames
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames has a long history. It is one of only three Royal Boroughs in England and has a Coronation Stone on which, it is reputed, seven Saxon kings were crowned in the tenth century.
The History of the Chapel
In 1309 Edward Lovekyn, a member of an old Kingston family and Bailiff of the Borough, received Letters Patent from Edward II to found a Chantry Chapel, and it was consecrated in 1310. Edward Lovekyn died the next year and the Chapel fell into decay.
In 1352, however, Edward’s son John received Royal consent to re-endow the Chapel. He was a wealthy and influential man, Master of the Fishmongers’ Company and four times Lord Mayor of London. Following his death in 1368 his foundation of the Chapel was strengthened by a generous bequest from Sir William Walworth, second husband of John Lovekyn’s widow, and the man who killed Wat Tyler, the leader of the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. He, too, was Master of the Fishmongers’ Company and Lord Mayor of London.
The names of both Lovekyn and Walworth are commemorated in the names of two of the Kingston Grammar School Houses.
In 1880 the Chapel again needed restoration but was saved from destruction by public subscriptions and the co-operation of the Kingston Corporation.
The Chapel is very much part of the School’s facilities, and is currently used for music teaching.