Coronation Stone | England

This is a vintage postcard of my beloved Kingston upon Thames. It depicts the Coronation Stone. The Coronation Stone is an ancient sarsen stone block which is believed to have been the site of the coronation of seven Anglo-Saxon kings. It is now located next to the Guildhall in Kingston upon Thames, England. Kingston is now a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames in Greater London, but remains the seat of the administration of the county of Surrey.

In Old English, tun, ton or don meant farmstead or settlement, so the name Kingston appears to mean farmstead of the kings. A local legend that these Saxon coronations gave Kingston its name is contradicted by the records of the 838 council.

Æthelstan was consecrated king at Kingston in 925, Eadred in 946 and Æthelred the Unready in 979. There is also some evidence that Edward the Elder, Edmund I, Eadwig and Edward the Martyr were consecrated in the town. According to John Stow, writing in the late sixteenth century, Æthelstan was crowned on a stage in the market place, but it was later believed that the kings were crowned in the ancient church of St Mary, which collapsed in 1730. A large stone block was recovered soon afterwards from the ruins of the chapel, and it has since been regarded as the 'Coronation Stone'. It was at first used as a mounting block, but in 1850 it was placed in the market place on a plinth which had the names of the seven kings believed to have been crowned on it inscribed around the side. [wikipedia]

I am trying to recognize where the Coronation Stone is situated in this postcard. It is definitely not where it is nowadays. Can anyone local figure it out? 

In the back there it is postmarked in 19 May 1905 from london, United Kingdom, and the handwriting reads: 'Lou finds she cannot get over. Would you care to go to Kew Gardens with us by Sunday. If so could you meet Lou about 4 or soon after at top of Sloane St. "Gardners" Corner. Shall be glad if you can go if you are over Kew was tomorrow. Call in M.P.'

Kingston’s historic Market Place | England

This is a beautiful postcard showing my beloved Kingston upon Thames. Kingston’s historic Market Place has been in use since around 1170 when Henry II was on the throne. Over the past 800 years Market Place has been used for much more than just selling produce and has been a place for both celebration and punishment - the busy Market Place was the ideal location for Kingston’s criminals to get their comeuppance in the stocks.

Kingston’s Market Place is the focal point for outdoor entertainment and activities in Kingston today and, just like in ancient times, it’s not just a place to sell produce. Market Place is a venue for music concerts, carnivals, car displays, promotional events, fun days, face-painting, ten pin bowling, cookery demonstrations, health checks, parades, stilt-walkers, birds of prey displays, and many more special events throughout the year.

Kingston’s Market Place regularly hosts visiting markets, including the festive Christmas Market, regular Continental Markets featuring delicious foods from the continent, and for arts and craft lovers the popular Thames Markets.

A visit to the Market Place offers much more than a shopping trip, you can grab some delicious local food, hot and cold drinks and be entertained by street performers or just relax and watch the world go by. [www.kingstonfirst.co.uk]

On the back side, I cannot really make out the handwriting but I can clearly see the date 1906.

Lovely Kingston upon Thames | England

I live in Kingston upon Thames for almost 2 years now, and this is the first time I find a postcard of Kingston. It is a multiview [in clockwise order]: 

• Kingston Bridge is a road bridge at Kingston upon Thames in London, carrying the A308 across the River Thames. It joins the town centre of Kingston in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, to Hampton Court Park, Bushy Park, and the village of Hampton Wick in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. As of 2005, it carried approximately 50,000 vehicles per day with up to 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction during peak times. Kingston Bridge is on the reach above Teddington Lock and close to and downstream of the mouth of the Hogsmill River, a minor tributary of the Thames. It is on the route of the Thames Path and is the end point for the Thames Down Link long distance footpath from Box Hill station.
• A Tudor style building next to Everyday Church
• The waterway
• The City Center
• 'Out of Order' sculpture, created by David Mach. David Mach (born in Methil, Fife, on 18 March 1956) is a Scottish sculptor and installation artist. Mach's artistic style is based on flowing assemblages of mass-produced objects. Typically these include magazines, vicious teddy bears, newspapers, car tyres, match sticks and coat hangers. Many of his installations are temporary and constructed in public spaces.
• A view of the River Thames from Kingston Bridge
• Bentalls Shopping Center
• Hampton Court Palace