The Coronation stone marks the spot near The Guildhall in Kingston where King Athelstan was crowned in the year 925 AD as well as seven other Anglo Saxon kings
A campaign has been launched to erect a statue of the first King of England, King Althestan, who was crowned in Kingston in the year 925 AD, on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Athelstan was crowned in Kingston, a neutral meeting point between the historic kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia in 925 AD, marking the foundation of a united English kingdom.
Last year, The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames hosted major community and cultural events—including heritage trails, exhibits at All Saints Church, and civic celebrations—to mark the 1100th anniversary of his coronation.
Kingston features a historic coronation stone said to be where Saxon kings, including Athelstan, were inaugurated.
Historian Dominic Sandbrook of The Rest is History wrote this in an editorial
A South West railway train was formally named King Athelstan at Kingston last year to honour England’s ‘first and greatest’ King
He was the son of Edward the Elder and the grandson of Alfred the Great and rule as King of the Anglo-Saxons (924–927) and the first King of the English (927–939).
Modern historians regard him as the first King of England and one of the “greatest Anglo-Saxon kings”. He never married and had no children; he was succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund 1.
In an editorial The Times said today: “The king in question was a warrior, a lawgiver and a statesman, loved and admired by his people, feared and respected by his foes. He encouraged writers and poets and gave generously to the church. He was free from the slightest hint of scandal and enjoyed a glittering reputation in courts across Europe. He was, in other words, the kind of founding father of which most countries can only dream.”
The plinth idea is part of a campaign to mark England’s 1,100th birthday next year is gathering pace among MPs. After Tom Holland, the historian, called for a bank holiday to mark the anniversary in July.
