Kingston is civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 and small scattered village in the South Hams

South Hams

South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England with its headquarters in the town of Totnes. It contains the towns of Dartmouth, Kingsbridge, Ivybridge, Salcombe — the largest of which is Ivybridge with a population of 16,056....

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England. It is three miles south west of Modbury

Modbury

Modbury is a town and parish in the South Hams region of the English county of Devon. It is situated on the A379 road, which links it to Plymouth and Kingsbridge...

, and about a mile from the mouth of the River Erme

River Erme

The Erme is a river in south Devon, England. From its source on Dartmoor it flows in a generally southerly direction past some of the best-preserved archaeological remains on the moor. It leaves the moor at the town of Ivybridge and continues southward, passing the settlements of Ermington, Modbury...

 at Wonwell. See the entry for Erme Mouth. In 2001 the population of the parish was 399. It has a small village hall - the Reading Room - that is used regularly for village events. There are several old houses including a number of thatched cottages. Nearby is a beach called Westcombe (wis-com).

Fire station

Kingston is home to one of Devon's two volunteer fire stations. It is crewed by locals who operate in the same manner as retained fire service personnel. However, being volunteers, they don't guarantee availability. Kingston Fire station was set up in September 1949, just after the water main was laid. Mervyn Freeman has been in charge since his father, Viv, retired in 1992. The crew attend about 30 calls a year. They currently have a unique vehicle, the South Hams only 4 wheel drive fire engine, based on a Mercedes 814DA chassis, built at the Crownhill workshops of the old Devon fire and rescue service in 1998 - a far cry from the 15 year old ex Cornwall Land Rover it replaced.

Updated Information

The Parish Council website has a lot of current information about events, businesses, accommodation, societies etc.

Churches

St James the Less - a 14th Century church, built of local slate. The Methodist Church was sold and converted to accommodation in 2007.

Transport

Apart from the school buses which take students to Modbury Primary School and Ivybridge Community College every day, the only public transport is the bus which goes to Plymouth each Friday.