Kingston is three miles (5 km) to the west of Worthing and among the most sparsely populated areas in the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation; there is road access from East Preston and Angmering-on-Sea but not from Ferring to the east.

A generally pedestrianised seafront connects the parish to Littlehampton and to Worthing.

The original village centre including the parish church was lost to the sea around 1630[3] and remains have been found well below the present highwater line.

Kingston has been devoid of major crime reported widely since at least the early 19th century, save that a cornfield in the parish is where murder victim Sarah Payne was playing with her siblings when abducted on 1 July 2000.

Littlehampton resident Roy Whiting, a convicted child sex offender, was later sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder.