Maidstone Museum, St Faith's St, Maidstone - 01622 602169 tourism@maidstone.gov.uk

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, 32 miles (51 km) south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, known as the Garden of England. There is evidence of a settlement in the area dating back to beyond the Stone Age.

Saxon charters (c975) show the first recorded instances of the town's name: de maeides stana and maegdan stane with the possible meaning of either stone of the maidens, or possibly stone of the people. The latter meaning may refer to the nearby megalith around which gatherings would take place. The name evolved through medestan/meddestane as reported in the Domesday Book until, in 1610, the modern name appeared. It has also 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 of the river.

The town is within the borough of Maidstone. In 2001, the town had a population of 138,959.

Maidstone's economy has changed over the years from being involved in much heavy industry: now light industry predominates; and to more service industries.

Neolithic finds have revealed the earliest occupation of the area; and the Romans have left their mark also: the road through the town and evidence of villas. The Normans set up a shire moot, and religious organisations established an abbey at Boxley, as well as hospitals and a college for priests. Today's suburb of Penenden Heath became a place of execution in medieval times.

Maidstone's charter as a town was first confirmed in 1549; although briefly revoked, a new charter in 1551 created the town as a borough. The town's charter was ratified in 1619 under James I, and the coat of arms, bearing a golden lion and a representation of the river, was designed (in heraldic terms: "or, a fes wavy azure between three roundels gules, on a chief gules a leopard passant gardant or"). Recently these arms were added to by the head of a white horse (representing Invicta, the motto of the county of Kent), a golden lion and an iguanodon. The iguanodon relates to the local discovery in the 19th century of the fossilised remains of such a dinosaur : The remains are now displayed in the Natural History Museum in London.

During the Civil War a battle took place here in 1648, resulting in victory for the Parliamentarian forces. Andrew Broughton, who was Mayor of Maidstone in 1649 (and also Clerk to the High Court of Justice) was responsible for declaring the death sentence on Charles I, and today a plaque in Maidstone Town Centre memorialises Andrew as 'Mayor and Regicide' (a killer of kings).

Maidstone has had the right to a town gaol since 1604; the present prison lies north of the town centre and was completed in 1819. Army barracks have been a feature of the town since 1797, when the first was built. The present Invicta Barracks is home to the Royal Engineers 36 Engineer Regiment, which includes two Gurkha field squadrons.

From an economic point of view, Maidstone's history has developed around the river, and also the surrounding countryside. Paper mills, stone quarrying, brewing and the cloth industry have all flourished here.

The modern town of Maidstone incorporates a number of previously outlying villages and settlements.

The county council offices, to the north of the town centre were built of Portland stone between 1910 and 1913. Maidstone General Hospital opened on the outskirts of the town in 1983, replacing West Kent General Hospital, which opened 150 years earlier in Marsham Street. The new Maidstone General Hospital is located just to the north of the former Oakwood Hospital (originally the Kent County Asylum) which closed in the mid-1990s.

Many of today's residents are employed within the retail, administrative or service sectors within the town; there are many industrial estates around the town providing employment. Some of the workforce commutes to other towns, including to London.

The town is situated at a point where the River Medway has previously flowed in a generally west-east direction; now, having been joined by the Rivers Teise and Beult, its course changes to a northerly one. As it does so, it cuts through the ridge formed by the Greensand, so that the town occupies a site on two opposite hills; the more easterly one containing the town centre. Beyond that, and still higher, is Penenden Heath.

The River Len joined the River Medway at Maidstone; though a short river it provided the water to drive numerous watermills. The Loose Stream, that rose at Langley and joined at Tovil powered over 30 mills. The resultant mill ponds on these rivers, are a prominent feature of the landscape.

Because of that situation, Maidstone had an industrial base, and became a nodal point for communications, both along the ridge and beside the river, and on the river itself. Roads radiate from here, connecting with Sevenoaks and Ashford (the A20); the Medway towns and Hastings (A229); Tonbridge (A26) and Tenterden (A274). All of these roads were served by the Turnpike trusts in the 18th/19th centuries.

The two railway routes, in spite of the fact that Maidstone is the county town, are not principal ones, due to an accident of history. There are two principal stations: Maidstone East, the more northerly of the two, connects with London and Ashford; whilst Maidstone West is on the Medway Valley Line.

Although the River Medway was historically responsible for the growth of the town, because of its capability to carry much of the area's goods, it is no longer a commercial stream. There is however a great deal of tourist traffic upon it.

As with most towns, 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 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 one of the breweries 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.