Parish overview
Local councils were established by legislation in 1894, and are the oldest type of local authority in England and Wales. The first Kingston parish meeting was held on 4th December 1894 and Roger Taylor’s recent and fascinating ‘A History of Kingston-near-Lewes’ notes some of the contemporary concerns which are not that different from current day!
Here is a link to a map of Kingston and surrounding area
In England there are over 8,500 local councils and as the first tier in local government they can exercise a range of discretionary powers. Accordingly local councils also have a statutory power to precept (tax) the local electors to finance the activities that come from the exercise of their discretionary powers and subsequent legal obligations. Kingston Parish Council owns and manages St Pancras Green and the Community Pavilion and the Village Green.
Kingston now has a population of around 830 and is the largest village in the Ouse Valley having expanded when the Kingston Estate was developed in the 1970s housing personnel from Sussex University.
The Street off Ashcombe Lane remains the centre of the ‘old’ village with a range of cottages and houses aside the mediaeval St Pancras Church and The Juggs public house. Also well known locally is the Juggs Road along which fisherwomen from Brighton are said to have carried their containers of fish to Lewes, as well as numerous criss-crossing footpaths and bridleways which take walkers and riders alike across the beautiful Sussex Downs.
Other amenities in the village include Iford & Kingston Primary School and the parish hall which is managed by an independent trust.