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Maidstone

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Maidstone
A stone built house with red-tiled roof, overlooking a river. Behind a blue sky with white clouds.
River Medway, Maidstone
Population113,137 (2011)
OS grid referenceTQ765555
• London32 mi (51 km)NW
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMAIDSTONE
Postcode districtME14–ME16
Dialling code01622
PoliceKent
FireKent
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Kent

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 it with Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade as 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.

The town is in the borough of Maidstone. In 2011, the town had a population of 113,137, about 73 per cent of the population of the borough.[1]

Maidstone's economy has changed over the years from being involved in heavy industry, to more light industry and service industries.

Toponymy

Saxon charters (c975) 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 with possible variation Mayndenstan, in 1396. [2] The modern name appeared by 1610.[3] 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.[citation needed]

History

Leeds Castle, four miles east of Maidstone
Main article: History of Maidstone

Neolithic 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.[4] The Normans set up a shire moot, and religious organisations established an abbey at Boxley, hospitals and a college for priests. Today’s suburb of Penenden Heath was a place of execution in medieval times.

alt text
Archbishops Palace
alt text
Maidstone Museum

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, 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 to these arms were added 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 discovery in the 19th century of the fossilised remains of that dinosaur, now in the Natural History Museum in London.

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 (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 Broughton as 'Mayor and Regicide'.

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

Paper mills, stone quarrying, brewing and the cloth industry have all flourished here. The paper maker James Whatman and his son invented wove paper (Whatman paper) at Turkey Mill from 1740, an important development in the history of printing.[5]

Modern history

Modern Maidstone incorporates a number of outlying villages and settlements (see Geography below).

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. It is just to the north of Oakwood Hospital (originally the Kent County Asylum), which closed in the mid-1990s.

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

Governance

County Hall, Maidstone, Kent County Council HQ

Members of Parliament

The town is divided between the constituencies of Maidstone and the Weald and Faversham and Mid Kent. Before 1997 Maidstone was in the county constituency of Maidstone. The Member of Parliament for Maidstone and the Weald is Conservative Helen Grant. Previous MPs include Ann Widdecombe, Sir John Wells, Sir Alfred Bossom and Benjamin Disraeli.[6] Since 2001 the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent has been Conservative Hugh Robertson.

Local government

Kent County Council is responsible for social services, education, maintenance of and new infrastructure, fire services and minerals. It is elected every four years: Maidstone elects nine representatives, and villages are in the four rural wards. The most recent election in 2013, saw a reduction in Conservative Party support in Maidstone. The Liberal Democrats gained one seat. Proportionally, votes were lost across the board by the Conservatives, mainly to the United Kingdom Independence Party who came second in several seats, and to the Green Party and Labour Party:

Election Member[7] Ward
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Dan Daley Maidstone Central
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Rob Bird Maidstone Central
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Ian Chittenden Maidstone North East
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Brian Eugene Clark Maidstone South
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Gary Cooke Maidstone South East
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Jenny Whittle Maidstone Rural East
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Paul Carter Maidstone Rural North
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Paulina Stockell Maidstone Rural West
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2013 Eric Hotson Maidstone Rural South

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.[8] These wards have 30 of the 55 seats on Borough Council. In the 2011 council election, 30 of the seats were held by the Conservative party, 20 by the Liberal Democrats and 4 by independents.

Maidstone Borough Council is responsible for services such as recreation, refuse collection, most planning decisions and social housing.[9]

Geography

A former millpond on the River Len, Mill Street/Palace Avenue Maidstone.
Lower Crisbrook Mill mill pond and Upper Crisbrook Mill, on the Loose Stream.

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.

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 connecting to Sevenoaks and Ashford (the A20); the Medway Towns and Hastings (A229); Tonbridge (A26) and Tenterden (A274). All these roads were served by the Turnpike trusts in the 18th/19th centuries.

The two railway routes are not principal ones, in spite of Maidstone being the county town, due to an accident of history. There are two principal stations: Maidstone East, the more northerly of the two, on the secondary line from London to Ashford, and Maidstone West 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.[10] 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.

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 nearby East Malling, about three miles west of Maidstone.

East Malling's highest temperature of 37.4 °C (99.3 °F) was recorded in August 2003.[11] The lowest temperature recorded is −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) during January 1947 and 1972.[12] East Malling also holds the record for the mildest January day in South East England, 17.4 °C (63.3 °F), also set in 2003.[13] The lowest temperature recorded in recent years was −10.7 °C (12.7 °F) on 20 December 2010.[14] The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate).[15]

Climate data for East Malling 1961-1990 (Weather station 3 miles (5 km) to the West of Maidstone)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 6.8
(44.2) 		7.1
(44.8) 		9.8
(49.6) 		12.4
(54.3) 		16.3
(61.3) 		19.5
(67.1) 		21.6
(70.9) 		21.5
(70.7) 		18.9
(66.0) 		15.1
(59.2) 		10.2
(50.4) 		7.8
(46.0) 		13.9
(57.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 1.2
(34.2) 		1.2
(34.2) 		2.4
(36.3) 		4.2
(39.6) 		6.9
(44.4) 		9.8
(49.6) 		11.9
(53.4) 		11.6
(52.9) 		9.5
(49.1) 		7.0
(44.6) 		3.6
(38.5) 		2.1
(35.8) 		5.9
(42.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 62
(2.4) 		41
(1.6) 		49
(1.9) 		46
(1.8) 		47
(1.9) 		50
(2.0) 		45
(1.8) 		48
(1.9) 		60
(2.4) 		60
(2.4) 		67
(2.6) 		65
(2.6) 		640
(25.2)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 51.6 69.4 113.9 148.5 201.0 204.8 201.0 195.6 151.4 114.4 69.3 46.6 1,567.5
Source: Met Office[16]

Demography

Maidstone compared
Maidstone Maidstone district England
Population 75,070 138,948 49,138,831
Foreign born 5.9% 5.2% 9.2%
White 97% 97% 91%
Asian 1.5% 1.1% 4.6%
Black 0.4% 0.2% 2.3%
Christian 74% 76% 72%
Muslim 0.8% 0.5% 3.1%
Hindu 0.7% 0.5% 1.1%
Source: 2001 UK census

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.[17]

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 (91.4% England), 0.6% Republic of Ireland, 0.6% Germany, 1.3% other European countries, 1.7% Asia, 0.9% Africa and 0.8% elsewhere.[17]

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.[17]

Economy

Fremlin Walk
The Mall Maidstone, formerly Chequers Shopping Centre
The Stag, by Edward Bainbridge Copnall, outside the Lockmeadow Centre

Industry

Aylesford (on the northwest side of Maidstone) has the largest paper recycling factory in Europe, manufacturing newsprint for the newspaper industry.

Until 1998, the Sharps toffee factory (later part of Cadbury Trebor Basset), 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 (hence KEF). 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.

Shopping

The town is ranked in the top five shopping centres in the south east of England for shopping yields and, with more than one million square feet of retail floor space, in the top 50 in the UK.[18] Much of this space is located in the two main shopping centres in the town, the 535,000 square feet (49,700 m2) The Mall Maidstone and the 32,500 square metres (350,000 sq ft) Fremlin Walk which opened in 2006.[19]

Other recent developments include the riverside Lockmeadow Centre, with a multiplex cinema, restaurants, nightclubs, and the town's market square. The leisure industry is a key contributor with the night-time economy worth £75m per annum.[18]

Employment

In the 2001 UK census, 45.2% of residents aged 16–74 were employed full-time, 12.7% part-time, 7.6% self-employed and 2.5% unemployed, while 2.3% were students with jobs, 3.0% without jobs, 12.9% retired, 6.6% looking after home or family, 3.8% permanently sick or disabled and 3.2% economically inactive for other reasons. These figures were roughly in line with the national average.[17]

Employment, by industry, was 19% retail; 13% real estate; 11% manufacturing; 9% construction; 7% transport and communications; 10% health and social work; 8% public administration; 7% education; 5% finance; 4% hotels and restaurants; 1% agriculture; 1% energy and water supply; and 5% other. Compared to national figures, Maidstone had a high percentage of workers in construction and public administration, and a low percentage in agriculture.[17]

According to the Office for National Statistics estimates, the average gross income of households between April 2001 and March 2002 was £595 per week (£31,000 per year).[17]

Army barracks

Army barracks have been in the town since 1797. The Invicta Barracks are home to the Royal Engineers 36 Engineer Regiment, which includes two Gurkha field squadrons.

On 29 September 1975 a local pub serving the barracks, The Hare and Hounds, was damaged by a bomb during the IRA campaign in England.[20] The White Rabbit pub occupies the former Officers’ Mess of the barracks, now a listed building.

Transport and communications

Residential developments along the river upstream of the Palace.

One of the first roads in Kent to be turnpiked was from Rochester to Maidstone, in 1728, giving some indication of the town’s importance. The A20 runs through the town and the M20 motorway runs to the north. Opened in 1960 as the Maidstone Bypass A20(M), this was the first motorway south of London. Maidstone is a hub for major roads: the M20 motorway, the A229, A249, A20 and A26. The M2 motorway is a short distance to the north and the A21 is not far away. The historic centre of the town is largely pedestrianised or with restricted access for private vehicles.

The River Medway was, until the coming of better roads and the railways, the principal means of transporting goods. Improvements had been made in about 1730 to the river so that barges of 40 tons could get upriver to East Farleigh, Yalding and Tonbridge. This meant that a good deal of trade, including corn, hops, fodder, fruit, stone and timber passed through the town, where there were several wharves.

The medieval stone bridge was replaced in 1879 to give better clearance: it was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. A second bridge, St Peter's Bridge, was built in 1977.

Today the river is of importance mainly to pleasure-boat owners and the considerable number of people living on houseboats. For many years there has been a river festival during the last weekend in July, and a millennium project inaugurated the Medway River Walk, the Medway Park and a new footbridge linking the former cattle market (now a multiplex cinema and nightclub) west of the river to the shopping area to the east.

Maidstone Chequers bus station

Most buses are operated by Arriva Southern Counties and Nu-Venture. They are centred on High Street, King Street and the Chequers Bus Station adjacent to the Mall shopping centre and serve the towns including Chatham, Faversham, Sittingbourne, Tonbridge, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Tenterden and a limited express bus operated by Arriva to Bluewater Shopping Centre. Weekday commuter coach services 781 and 784 between Maidstone and London are operated by Chalkwell Coaches of Sittingbourne.

An Arriva Southern Counties bus in Maidstone Transport Centenary livery

In 2004 the centenary of Maidstone Corporation Transport was marked with several events, looking back operators of transport in Maidstone, and featuring a preserved Maidstone trolleybus.

Stagecoach in East Kent operates route 10X every day from the High Street and King Street to Lenham, Ashford, Kent, Hythe, Kent and Folkestone On Sunday's Stagecoach also run route 335 from the Chequers Bus Station adjacent to the Mall shopping centre to Faversham where it turns into route 3 and continung on to the historic cathedral city of Canterbury

Former bus operators in Maidstone include Maidstone & District Motor Services Ltd (M&D); Maidstone Borough Council Transport, later Boro'line Maidstone; and Bygone Buses.

When the railways were built in the 1840s, Maidstone was not well served. It was reported at the time that inhabitants were bitterly opposed to the railway, the mayor suggesting that "Maidstone will be ruined as a commercial town". It was said that wharfingers and corn and coal merchants would be hardest hit.

In 1842, the South Eastern Railway, to reach the Channel ports of Folkestone and Dover, put its main line through Tonbridge and Ashford, some 6 miles (9.7 km) to the south. A station named Maidstone Road was built in an isolated spot called Paddock Wood, from where coaches were run to the county town.

The 1874 Maidstone East line crossing the River Medway; also on the bridge is a footpath connecting Maidstone East with Maidstone Barracks.

Two years later a branch line was built to Maidstone. In 1846 the Medway Valley Line connected Strood with the town. It was not until 1874 that the line from London arrived, and another ten years before Ashford was connected by rail. There are three stations: Maidstone West and Maidstone Barracks on the Medway Valley Line (whose platforms are visible one from the other); and Maidstone East on the Ashford line.

In 1905, the Headcorn & Maidstone Junction Light Railway was authorised under the 1896 Light Railways Act to link Maidstone with Sutton Valence and Headcorn, linking with the Kent & East Sussex Railway. The only part built was a short branch serving the paper mills at Tovil.

Two long-distance footpaths are easily accessible. The Medway Valley Walk between Tonbridge and Gillingham passes through the town, following the banks of the river. The North Downs Way, which incorporates the Pilgrims' Way to Canterbury, runs for 153 miles (246 km) between Farnham, Surrey, and Dover, passing about five miles (8 km) to the north and west.

Education

see List of schools in Kent

The town is served by 15 secondary schools, 23 primary schools, and two special schools. Non-selective secondary schools include Cornwallis Academy, Maplesden Noakes, New Line Learning Academy, St Augustine Academy, St. Simon Stock School and Valley Park School. Grammar schools serving the town include Invicta Grammar School, Maidstone Grammar School, Maidstone Grammar School for Girls and Oakwood Park Grammar School.

Alumni of the oldest school, Maidstone Grammar School (founded 1549), include James Burke, television presenter, and Lord Beeching, notorious for the British railway cuts of the 1960s. William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies was once a teacher at the school.

Oakwood Park to the west of the town is host to a regional campus of the University for the Creative Arts (formerly Kent Institute of Art & Design) at which Turner Prize nominated artist Tracey Emin, fashion designer Karen Millen and television personality and artist Tony Hart studied.

In the 2001 census, 15.7% of residents aged 16–74 had a higher education qualification or equivalent, below the national average of 19.9%. 27.5% had no academic qualifications, compared to the national figure of 28.9%.

Religion

All Saints' Church

In 2001, religions were 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, while 7.7% did not state their religion.[17]

All Saints' Church in the town centre was the collegiate church of the College of All Saints built in 1395 next to the Archbishop's Palace. It is a landmark building and is one of the largest and widest Parish Churches in England. It contains a monument to Sir Jacob Astley, the Royalist Civil War soldier and a memorial to Lawrence Washington, great-uncle of George Washington's great-great-grandfather, that includes the stars and stripes in the family coat of arms [21] The college, the church, the palace and the palace's tithe barn are all Grade I listed buildings.

Culture

Twinning

  • France Maidstone is twinned with Beauvais in Picardy, France.

Radio and television

There are three radio stations: Heart Kent used to broadcast from studios in Earl Street, and Hospital Radio Maidstone, broadcasting from Maidstone Hospital, is one of the longest serving hospital radio stations in the UK.

KMFM Maidstone, formerly CTR 105.6, is the local commercial station. Having broadcast from studios in Mill Street, it now broadcasts from the studios of sister station KMFM Medway. It is part of the KM Group, which acquired it in October 2006.

A new version of former pirate radio station Radio Caroline broadcasts (via Sky and the internet) from The Maidstone Studios, an independent television studio complex in the Vinters Park area, once home to the former ITV company TVS.

Theatre

The Exchange

Theatres include The Hazlitt Theatre; RiverStage; The Exchange Studio (previously ‘‘The Corn Exchange’’); and the Hermitage Millennium Amphitheatre.

Literature

Maidstone is mentioned several times in Ian Fleming's 1955 James Bond novel, Moonraker. Villain Hugo Drax passes through King Street and Gabriels Hill and later stops at the Thomas Wyatt Hotel.[22]

Writer Jack London recounts his visit to Maidstone in his 1903 book The People of the Abyss. Whilst living in the slums of London in the summer of 1902 - he heads to Maidstone in search of hop picking work up the London Road. He finds lodging with a 'Sea Wife' living in the poor quarter of Maidstone, and persuades her and her husband, Thomas Mugridge to let him stay in their front room.[23]

Museums

Martian crater

Following the NASA tradition of naming craters on Mars after small towns, the Maidstone crater was added to the list of Martian geographical features in 1976.[24][25]

Sport

Maidstone celebrate winning the Kent League title in 2006

Maidstone United football team was formed in 1897, and has had mixed fortunes in recent years. The peak was gaining promotion to the Football League in 1989 after many years of success in non-league football. However, the club could not bring its London Road Ground up to Football League standards so it ground-shared at Dartford's Watling Street stadium and played its games there. The club could not keep up with the financial pressures of the Football League and folded in 1992. A new club was formed and made its way from the Kent County League Division 4 to the Isthmian (Ryman) Premier Division, currently in the Ryman Premier Division. The club moved into the new Gallagher Stadium at James Whatman Way in summer 2012.

Maidstone Hockey Club is one of the oldest field hockey clubs in the country, founded in 1878.[26] For the 2011/12 season, the Ladies' 1st XI play in the National League East Conference, having won the East Premier League the previous season,[27] and the Men's 1st XI play in the South Hockey League 1st XI Premier League Division 2.[28] The Men's and Women's 1st squad were both represented in the Indoor England Hockey League Division 2 England Hockey League, with the Men having previously won the Division 2 title in 2008/09.[29][30] The club has seven men's and four women's sides playing in national, regional and county leagues.

Maidstone Rugby Football Club is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the country, founded in 1880.[31] The club runs 6 senior men's sides and a junior section.

Kent County Cricket Club played occasional matches at Mote Park for some 150 years until 2005. Mote Park is the town's largest park and includes a number of recreational and sport facilities. The Lashings World XI exhibition cricket team is based in Maidstone and has included a number of high-profile professional cricketers.[32]

Maidstone Sailing Club sails on Mote Park lake. Maidstone also has a rowing club, a martial arts school, a tennis club, an athletics club, an American football team, and a basketball club.

A baseball team, the Kent Mariners, is based in the town, playing in the BBF AA South division.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ "2011 Census: Ward level population: Maidstone Borough Council" (PDF). Kent County Council. November 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  2. ^ Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP40/541, year 1396; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no541a/aCP40no541afronts/IMG_0715.htm; last entry on the image
  3. ^ "Origin of place name". Hereshistorykent.org.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  4. ^ "UK | England | Kent | Dig uncovers a Roman bath house". BBC News. 3 June 2004. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  5. ^ Roberts, Matt T.; Etherington, Don. "Whatman, James (1741-1798)". Bookbinding and the conservation of books; A dictionary of descriptive terminology. U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 0844403660.
  6. ^ "Widdecombe to stand down as MP". London: Guardian.co.uk. 8 October 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  7. ^ "Kent County Councillors. Retrieved 30 April 2012". Democracy.kent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  9. ^ "Maidstone Borough Council". Maidstone Borough Council. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  10. ^ "Locateinmaidstone.com". Locateinmaidstone.com. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  11. ^ "2003 Heatwave". Met Office.
  12. ^ "Coldest temperature". BBC.
  13. ^ "2003 January". Met Office.
  14. ^ "2010 December". Met Office.
  15. ^ Climate Summary for Maidstone
  16. ^ "East Malling 1961-90 averages". Met Office. Archived from the original on 10 February 2001. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g "Neighbourhood Statistics". Statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  18. ^ a b http://www.alexandrapatrick.co.uk/userfiles/file/Maidstone.pdf
  19. ^ The ABB Group ‘‘Fremlin Walk’’ Electrical Contractor
  20. ^ BBC Kent History retrieved 11 July 2007
  21. ^ Harris, Brian (2006) Harris's Guide to Churches and Cathedrals ISBN 978-0-09-191251-2
  22. ^ Fleming, Ian (1965). Moonraker. Pan. p. 131.
  23. ^ London, Jack (1963). The People of the Abyss. Panther. p. 75.
  24. ^ "Mars crater named after Tooting". BBC News. 11 January 1998. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  25. ^ "IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature".
  26. ^ Maidstone Hockey Club
  27. ^ "EML Latest results&tables NE". East-hockey2.co.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  28. ^ "Premier - Division 1". South-league.com. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  29. ^ "Englandhockey.co.uk". Englandhockey.co.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  30. ^ "Englandhockey.co.uk". Englandhockey.co.uk. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  31. ^ "Maidstone Rugby Club". Maidstonerugby.org.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  32. ^ Lashings CC relinked 15 December 2011
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