by Paul Flavell
King Athelstan, the first King of England, was crowned King on 4 September 925 at Kingston upon Thames, perhaps due to its location on the border between Wessex and Mercia. He was crowned by Athelm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who organised a new order of service in which the king wore a crown for the first time instead of a helmet.
The good people of Kingston upon Thames decided to organise a series of events to celebrate this 1,100thanniversary, including a procession, Saxon encampment and tournament held on 26 July, unveiling of new tapestries on 4 September, a flotilla on 6 September and finishing with a carnival and Festival Choral Eucharist with the Bishop of Southwark on 7 September.
Some while ago, we were approached by Viv Endecott, a self-confessed King Athelstan fan, to see if she could bring a small group of ringers from Dorset to ring at Kingston on 26 July, during the Athelstan procession. Their ringers came from Lytchett Matravers, Lytchett Minster, Winterborne Kingston (Dorset!), Poole and Bournemouth. We readily agreed to this request and ringers from Kingston with Dorset connections came to help.
The Dorset ringers were unused to ringing on 10 bells so we kept to call changes and rang whilst the procession crossed Kingston bridge. They were delighted with their ring and after the ringing we were spoken to by a lady in the church who said the ringing could be heard by the bridge and really added to the occasion!