Maidstone

Maidstone: archbishop's palace

Maidstone, town and borough (district), administrative and historic county of Kent, southeastern England. It is located astride the River Medway, 38 miles (61 km) southeast of London. The largely rural borough surrounding the town covers a large area of central Kent.

The name Maidstone is derived from the Saxon Maeidesstana, given as Meddestane in Domesday Book (1086), and is taken to mean “the maidens’ stone.” At the time of the Domesday survey, the settlement, noted for its salt production, eel fishing, and flour milling, belonged to the archbishop of Canterbury. A residence of the Norman archbishops of Canterbury until the Reformation, the community grew as a market town and had a succession of charters, the last granted in 1747.

The town of Maidstone is still a major agricultural market centre, situated in the heart of orchard country and the largest hops-growing area in England; among its industries, brewing and malting and the manufacture of agricultural implements are prominent, but the chief modern manufacture is paper. Formerly cloth making was important, boosted by an influx of Walloon weavers in 1567. The Perpendicular-style parish church, as well as many other local buildings, is built of the local limestone (Kentish rag), which has been much quarried from Roman times for shipment for major buildings in London. Hampton Court, Eton College, and the Tower of London are among the buildings for which Kentish ragstone from the Maidstone district was employed.

Assizes have been held in Maidstone since the 13th century, and it is the modern headquarters of county administration and an important shopping centre. In the European Middle Ages the shire moot (assembly) was held on Penenden Heath, which was the scene of executions and of great county meetings until the 19th century, when it was enclosed in 1882 for public recreation. Among many sites of historical and architectural interest are the medieval archbishop’s palace and other ecclesiastical foundations and several Georgian buildings. Area borough, 152 square miles (394 square km). Pop. (2001) town, 89,684; borough, 138,948; (2011) town, 107,627; borough, 155,143.