Hotels Maidstone Kent + Hotels in Maidstone Kent
Hotels in the town of Maidstone are often required for tourists who require short term accommodation. Some may want to stay at large or small hotels. Some may want to stay at large or small hotel. Some may want to stay at cheap or luxury hotels in the English town. Some may want to stay at old or new hotels in the town. Some may want to stay at old or new hotels in the town. Some may want to stay at hotels that have access to culture and to entertainment.
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, 32 miles sout 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.
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 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, Lunsford, Oakwood Park, Ringlestone, Roseacre, Shepway and Vinters Park.
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for 70 miles (113 km) from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary. It has a catchment area of 930 square miles (2,409 km2), the largest in southern England. Those tributaries rise from points along the North Downs, the Weald and Ashdown Forest.
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