Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest town in the county of Kent in South East England, of which it is also the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river carried much of the town's trade as the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, which is known as the Garden of England. There is evidence of settlement in the area dating back before the Stone Age. The town, part of the borough of Maidstone, had an approximate population of 100,000 in 2019. Since World War II, the town's economy has shifted from heavy industry towards light industry and services.
Toponymy
charters dating back to show the first recorded instances of the town's name, de maeides stana and maegdan stane, possibly meaning stone of the maidens or stone of the people. The latter meaning may refer to the nearby megalith around which gatherings took place. The name evolved through medestan/meddestane in the Domesday Book of 1086, with possible variation Mayndenstan in 1396. The modern name appeared by 1610. It has been suggested that the name derives from stones set into the river to allow clothes to be rinsed in the cleaner water away from the banks.History
finds have revealed the earliest occupation of the area, and the Romans have left their mark in the road through the town and evidence of villas. The Normans set up a shire moot, and religious organisations established an abbey at Boxley, hospitals and a college for priests. Today's prosperous suburb of Penenden Heath was an historic site of legal proceedings and also a place of execution in medieval times.Maidstone played a key role during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The rebel priest, John Ball, had been imprisoned there and was freed by Kentish rebels under the command of Wat Tyler, who is reputed to have been a resident of the town.
Maidstone's charter as a town was granted in 1549; although briefly revoked, a new charter in 1551 created the town as a borough. The charter was ratified in 1619 under James I, and the coat of arms was designed, bearing a golden lion and a representation of the river. The arms also include the head of a white horse, a golden lion and an iguanodon. The iguanodon relates to the discovery in the 19th century of the fossilised remains of that dinosaur, now in the Natural History Museum in London. Maidstone has had the right to a town gaol since 1604.
During the English Civil War, the Battle of Maidstone took place in 1648, resulting in a victory for the Parliamentarians. Andrew Broughton, who was Mayor of Maidstone in 1649 was responsible for declaring the death sentence on Charles I, and today a plaque in Maidstone Town Centre memorialises Broughton as 'Mayor and Regicide'.
Paper mills, stone quarrying, brewing and the cloth industry have all flourished here. The paper maker James Whatman and his son invented wove paper at Turkey Mill from 1740, an important development in the history of printing.
A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of cavalry barracks in 1798. Invicta Park Barracks is currently home to the 36 Engineer Regiment.
Maidstone Prison is north of the town centre and was completed in 1819.
In 1897–1898 the Maidstone typhoid epidemic killed at least 132 people, and was the largest typhoid epidemic at the time. Hundreds of nurses from around the country volunteered to care for the patients, and several nurses were sent by Eva Luckes, matron of The London Hospital, including Edith Cavell.
Modern history
Modern Maidstone incorporates a number of outlying villages and settlements.The county council offices at the front of the prison near Maidstone East station were built of Portland stone between 1910 and 1913. On 29 September 1975 a local pub serving the Invicta Park Barracks, The Hare and Hounds, was damaged by a bomb during an IRA campaign in England.
Maidstone General Hospital opened on the outskirts of the town in 1983, replacing the West Kent General Hospital, which opened 150 years earlier in Marsham Street, and the Victorian Ophthalmic Hospital which was nearby to it. The General Hospital is just to the north of Oakwood Hospital, which closed in the mid-1990s the site of which has now been developed for housing. It was at Maidstone General Hospital that the member of the Monty Python team Graham Chapman died of throat and spinal cancer in 1989 .
Residents are mainly employed in the retail, administrative and service sectors; there are some industrial estates around the town providing employment. Some of the workforce commute to other towns, including to London.
Governance
Members of Parliament
The town is divided between the constituencies of Maidstone and Malling,, and Faversham and Mid Kent. Before 1997 Maidstone was in the county constituency of Maidstone. The current Member of Parliament for Maidstone and Malling is Conservative Helen Grant. Previous MPs include Ann Widdecombe, Sir John Wells, Sir Alfred Bossom and Benjamin Disraeli. Since 2015 the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent has been Conservative Helen Whately. Prior to the 2015 election, the MP was Conservative Sir Hugh Robertson and, before him, another Conservative, Andrew Rowe.Local government
is responsible for social services, education, maintenance of and new road infrastructure, fire services and minerals. It is elected every four years: Maidstone elects nine representatives, and villages are in the four rural wards.The town is the main town of Maidstone borough, which includes the surrounding rural areas except to the north-west. The town is divided into the 12 local government wards of Allington, Bridge, Downswood and Otham, East, Fant, Heath, High Street, Park Wood, Shepway North, Shepway South, South, and North. These wards have 30 of the 55 seats on Borough Council.
Maidstone Borough Council is responsible for services such as recreation, refuse collection, most planning decisions and social housing.
Geography
The town is six miles downstream from where the River Medway, having flowed in a generally west–east direction, is joined by the Rivers Teise and Beult at Yalding and changes its course to a northerly one. It cuts through the ridge formed by the greensand, so that the town occupies a site on two opposite hills, the easterly one containing the town centre. Beyond that, and higher, is Penenden Heath.The River Len joins the Medway at Maidstone. Though a short river, it provided the water to drive numerous watermills. The Loose Stream, which rises at Langley and joins at Tovil, once powered over 30 mills. Mill ponds on these rivers are a prominent feature of the landscape.
Maidstone has continued to grow. In doing so it has incorporated hitherto separate settlements, villages and hamlets within its boundaries. These include Allington, Barming, Bearsted, Penenden Heath, Sandling, Tovil and Weavering Street. Housing estates include Grove Green, Harbourland, Ringlestone, Roseacre, Shepway, Senacre and Vinters Park.
Maidstone was at one time a centre of industry, brewing and paper making being among the most important. Nowadays smaller industrial units encircle the town. The site of Fremlin's Brewery, once the largest in Kent, is now Fremlin Walk shopping centre. The pedestrianised areas of the High Street and King Street run up from the river crossing at Lockmeadow; Week Street and Gabriel's Hill bisect this route.
Climate
Kent experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Met Office weather station for which online records are available is at East Malling, about three miles west of Maidstone.East Malling's highest temperature of was recorded in August 2003. The lowest temperature recorded is during January 1947 and 1972. East Malling also holds the record for the mildest January day in South East England,, also set in 2003. The lowest temperature recorded in recent years was on 20 December 2010. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb".
Demography
In the 2001 UK census, Maidstone town wards had a population of 75,070, a density of 28 residents per hectare. The town had 31,142 households, of which 38% were married couples, 29% were individuals, 10% were cohabiting couples, and 9% were single-parent families. 14% of households had someone living alone of pensionable age.The ethnicity was 96.6% white, 0.9% mixed race, 0.3% Chinese, 1.5% other Asian, 0.4% Black and 0.3% other.
The place of birth was 94.1% United Kingdom, 0.6% Republic of Ireland, 0.6% Germany, 1.3% other European countries, 1.7% Asia, 0.9% Africa and 0.8% elsewhere.
Religion was 73.9% Christian, 0.8% Muslim, 0.7% Hindu, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.14% Sikh and 0.11% Jewish. 15.8% had no religion, 0.6% had an alternative religion, and 7.7% did not state their religion.
Economy
Industry
Until 1998, the Sharps toffee factory, was in central Maidstone and provided a significant source of employment.Loudspeaker manufacturer KEF was founded in 1961 on the premises of the metal-working operation Kent Engineering & Foundry. KEF still occupies the same river-bank site. In the late 1990s KEF manufactured a loudspeaker called "the Maidstone".
The town centre has the largest office centre in the county and the area is a base for the paper and packaging industry. Many high-technology firms have set up in surrounding business parks.
Southern Water and Mid Kent Water operate the Maidstone water system.
Maidstone Borough Corporation began construction of Maidstone power station at Fairmeadow in 1900 and supplied electricity from 1901, firstly for street lighting then other uses. Upon nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948 ownership of the station passed to the British Electricity Authority and then to the Central Electricity Generating Board. In 1966 the power station had a generating capacity of 13.125 MW and delivered 6,921 MWh of electricity. The CEGB later closed the station and it was demolished in 1973.