MAIDSTONE, a borough and market-town and parish, having separate
jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Maidstone, lathe of AYLESFORD,
county of KENT, of which it is the county town, 8 miles (S.) from
Rochester, and 34 (S. E. by E.) from London, containing, according
to the last census, 12,508 inhabitants, and now about
14,000. Some writers have supposed this to be the
Caer Meguiad, or Megwad, enumerated by Nennius among
the principal cities in Britain. Camden considers it to be
the Vagniacce mentioned in the second Itinerary of Antoninus:
modern authors, however, are doubtful relative to
the accuracy of this latter opinion, on a supposition that
that celebrated antiquary had mistaken the Watlingstreet
road for another Roman road passing this town
to London, from the Portus Lemanis, which had become
the landing-place for the Romans after the Portus.Rutupensis
and Dubris had fallen into disuse. All, however,
allow Maidstone to have been occupied by the Romans,
and that it was, at an early period, a place of considerable
note. Several Roman coins and urns have been
found in the neighbourhood. The Saxons named it
Medwegestun, a town on the Medwege, or middle river,
now Medway. In Domesday-book it is written Meddestane;
and in records of the time of Edward I., Maydenestane,
from which the transition to its present
appellation is easy. Among the historical events which
contribute to distinguish this place, may be mentioned
the celebrated meeting held on Penenden heath, about
a mile north-eastward from the town, for the purpose
of adjusting the differences that had arisen between
Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Odo, Earl of
Kent, brother of the Conqueror, in consequence of the
appropriation by the latter of various lands and privileges
previously enjoyed by the primate, and which this
assembly decided should be restored. During the reign
of Mary, Maidstone was deprived of its charter, in consequence
of the firmness the inhabitants evinced in
support of the Protestant cause, by opposing the
queen's marriage with Philip of Spain: many of them
were put to death, and Sir Thomas Wyatt, who had excited
them to make a stand in favour of their religious
principles, was executed on Hay hill, London, and his
estates were confiscated. In 1648, the town was stormed
by Fairfax, at the head of ten thousand of the parliamentary
forces, and taken, after a most obstinate resistance
on the part of the royalists.
The town, which is well paved and lighted, and consists
chiefly of four large streets, stands principally ofl
the eastern bank of the river Medway, over which is a
bridge of five arches. The inhabitants are plentifully supplied
with excellent water, conveyed from a reservoir at
Rocky hill, about half a mile from the town, by means
of pipes laid across the bed of the Medway. The gasworks
were constructed by, and at the expense .of, an
individual named Gosling, and afterwards sold to a
number of the inhabitants, who, by an act of parliament,
were constituted The Maidstone Gas-light ana
Coke Company. Pleasantly situated on the bank of the
Medway are the barracks, used as a  depot for tjie
king's regiments of cavalry serving in the East Indies,
and at the Cape of Good Hope, and for drilling recruits
previously to embarkation: the establishment consists
of a commandant, staff-captain, paymaster, surgeon,
adjutant, riding-master, and commissioned and noncommissioned
officers. The building is principally of
wood, painted white, and, amidst the trees that ornament
the ground, has a very picturesque appearance.
Opposite the barrack, on the other side of the road, are
the county ball-rooms, built in 1819. The theatre, a
neat small building, is opened every third year, for a
limited number of nights. In 1824, a philosophical society
was established, which has been dissolved. The
river Medway being navigable up to the town for large
hoys, Maidstone enjoys all the advantages of a cheap
communication by water with the metropolis. A very
large quantity of paper, and that of the finest kind,
is made here 5 and many of the inhabitants are employed
in the manufacture of blankets, thread, hop-bagging,
ropes, linseed-oil, and oil-cakes; and a considerable
trade is carried on in corn, timber, grocery, orchard-
fruit, and hops; for the production of which two
latter, the soil in the neighbourhood is particularly
favourable. Formerly this town was celebrated for a
distillery of gin, which partook of the flavour of Hollands,
and was much in demand, but the establishment
has been broken up. The market for corn and hops
is held on Thursday, under part of the Mitre Inn; and
at the back of these premises, that for provisions, on
Thursday and Saturday: the market for cattle is on
the second Tuesday in each month; and the fairs are,
February 13th, May 12th, June 20th, and October 17th,
for cattle and pedlary, and the last for hops; during
the fairs, a court of pie-powder is held for their regulation.
This town was incorporated, in 1549, by Edward VI.
Several charters were granted to it by succeeding monarchs;
and under that of George II., in 1748, by
which it is now governed, the civil power is vested in a
mayor, recorder, twelve jurats, and forty common council-
men, assisted by a town clerk and other officers.
The mayor (who must be elected from amongst the
jurats), the recorder, and the three senior jurats, are
justices of the peace, and the mayor is also coroner and
clerk of the market. The corporation hold quarter
sessions for the trial of persons charged with offences
not capital; also a court of pleas every alternate
Tuesday, which takes cognizance of " all and all manner
of actions, personal and mixed, and of granting
replevins;" the jurisdiction of which includes the
parishes of Maidstone, Allington, Banning, Boxley,
East Farleigh, Linton, Looze, and Otham, and the
hamlets of Mill Hale and New Hythe. A court leet is
held annually, at which constables for the town are
chosen. The assizes for the county, and the quarter
sessions for the western division, are also held here.
The shire-hall, near which malefactors are executed,
stands on that part of Penenden heath which is in the
parish of Boxley; it is a neat edifice of stone, rebuilt
in 1830, but not larger, nor more commodious, than
the former. Maidstone returns two members' to parliament;
the right of election is in the freemen not
receiving alms; their number, of whom five hundred
are resident, is about nine hundred: the mayor is the
returning officer. The freedom is obtained by apprenticeship,
and is enjoyed by the eldest son of a freeman,
by right of primogeniture; and by the younger sons,
on paying forty shillings each; strangers are admitted,
with the consent of the corporation, on the payment
of a fine. The county elections also take place
here. The new county gaol, situated at the end of
the town, on the road leading to Rochester, and built
of rag-stone procured on the spot, was finished in
1818, at an expense of £200,000; it encloses within
its walls fourteen acres of ground, and contains thirtyfour
wards and four hundred and fifty cells for males,
and ,"seven wards and eighty-two cells for females, besides
a tread-mill, at which eighty persons may work
together; the average number of prisoners is three
hundred and fifty, and the annual expenditure from
£4000 to £5000. New courts, in which the assizes
are held, have lately been built in front of the gaol.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the peculiar jurisdiction
and patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The church, situated at the south-western end of
the town, is dedicated to All Saints, and is the largest in
the county, but when built is not with certainty known.
Archbishop Courtenay obtained leave of Richard II. to
convert the parochial church into a collegiate one, for
the warden, chaplain, &c., of the college which he had
here founded, on which occasion he probably added
the chancel. The church had formerly two chantries,
one founded in 1366, by Robert Vinter, of the parish of
Boxley, and the other about 1405, by Thomas Arundel,
Archbishop of Canterbury; on the dissolution of
the college, the church was  again used for its original
purpose. From the tower .formerly rose a spire
eighty feet high, covered with lead, which was destroyed
by lightning, November 2nd, 1730. The altarpiece,
painted by Mr. William Jefferys, a native of this
town, justly excites admiration. In the vestry-room is
the parochial library, considerably augmented, in 1735,
by a collection of books left by Dr. Bray, perpetual curate
of St. Botolph's, Aldgate, and the founder of parochial
libraries, to any corporate town in the south of
England, that should pay £ 50 to his executors; the inhabitants
of Maidstone, having raised a subscription for
the purpose, availed themselves of this conditional bequest;
amongst other scarce works, the library contains
a copy, given by the corporation, of Bishop Walton's
Polyglott Bible, published about 1630. A new
church, containing one thousand two hundred free
seats, and eight hundred others, has been recently built,
at an expense of about £ 13,000. There are two places
of worship for Wesleyan Methodists, and one each for
Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and
Unitarians.
The free grammar school was founded in the reign
of Edward VI., by the corporation, who purchased, for
£205. 4., the house and lands that belonged to the
fraternity of Corpus Christi: this sum, which was the
proceeds of the sale of jewellery, plate, &c., of the
college founded by Archbishop Courtenay, in 1396, was
given to the corporation by the commissioners appointed,
on the dissolution of this college, to superintend the
sale of its effects, for the benefit of the crown, on condition
of their founding and endowing a school. The
master, who must be a clergyman of the established
church, receives from the corporation an annual stipend
of £20 j he is likewise entitled to the rent of sixteen
acres of land in Romney-Marsh, pursuant to the will of
Dr. John Davy, proved in 1649 5 and £6 a year arising
from the purchase of the land tax of the living of Hoo,
near Rochester, given by Mr. John Rice, in 1805; he
has also a house rent-free. The school has two scholarships
in University College, Oxford, founded agreeably
to the will, dated December 15th, 1618, of the
Rev. Robert Gunsley, rector of Tilsey, Surrey, who bequeathed
the rectory and parsonage of Flamstead, Herts,
to the master and fellows of the above college, for
founding four scholarships of £15 per annum each,
with chambers; two in favour of this school, and two
for that at Rochester; directing, nevertheless, that
preference should be given to the founder's kindred,
wherever born; and afterwards limiting the benefit of
his bequest to natives of the county of Kent. The
will farther provides, that the master and fellows of this
college shall appoint a curate to the church of Flamstead,
with a salary of £60 per annum; and that, on a
vacancy occurring in the curacy, those who have been
appointed to the scholarships shall have the option of
refusing it. In 1827 was instituted a subscription academy,
of which the following are the prominent particulars;
it consists of one hundred shares of £20 each,
transferable on certain conditions; shareholders are entitled
to nominate a pupil for each share, paying annually
ten guineas per share, including books and all expenses;
the management is vested in a committee of proprietors,
a treasurer, and a secretary: the masters are nominated
by the committee, but elected by proprietors at a general
meeting; the head master must be a graduate of the
University of Oxford or Cambridge, and in orders, and
his fixed salary is £225 a year; that of the second master
is £ 195; and that of the third, £60; but when the
number of pupils exceeds fifty, an addition of £3, £2,
and £1, for each, is made to the salaries of the masters
respectively. The education is English, classical, and mathematical;
lectures are delivered, monthly at least, by
the masters, on literature and the arts and sciences; and
public examinations of the pupils take place in- the week
previous to the vacations at Midsummer and Christmas:
the French language, drawing, dancing, music, and other
accomplishments are taught, and paid for extra; none
are admitted under six years of age; and the masters
are allowed to take pupils of the institution as boarders,
under certain regulations.
The Blue-coat school, founded in 1711, by the Rev.
Dr. Woodward, for clothing and educating fifty-three
boys and forty-three girls, has an annual permanent
income of £138. 10., under the management of seven
trustees, and is further supported by donations and subscriptions.
The Green-coat school, for clothing and educating
twelve boys and twelve girls is supported by subscription.
Sir Charles Booth's school, endowed by him
in 1795, with the interest of £2000 (now augmented
to more than £3000) is under the direction of trustees,
and affords instruction to thirty-five boys and thirtyfive
girls; and the Brown-coat school, for clothing and
educating twenty-four boys and twenty-four girls, and
educating, in addition, about two hundred boys and one
hundred girls, is supported by contributions among the
dissenters. A National and a Lancasterian school are
also supported by voluntary contributions. There are
several societies for the relief of the indigent; a savings
bank; and ten benefit societies, composed of nearly one
thousand six hundred members. The ahnshouses
founded and endowed are, six by Sir John Banks, Bart.,-
a native of this town, and one of its representatives in.-
several parliaments, who, by will in 1697, bequeathed,
the clear yearly income of £ 60, for six aged persons
of both sexes, with comfortable habitations; six by
Edward Hunter, Esq., in 1748, for three poor men, and
the same number of women, with £8 per annum to
each; four by John Brenchley, Esq., in 1789, for aged
men, with £ 12 per annum to each; and three by Mrs.
Duke, for decayed gentlewomen.
Maidstone contains but few objects to gratify the researches
of the antiquary. The palace, which was-formerly
the residence of the archbishops of Canterbury,
was commenced, in 1348, by Archbishop Ufford, -and
finished by Simon Islip; it now forms two dwellinghouses.
An hospital for pilgrims, or travellers, was
founded in 1244, or, according to some, in 1260 by
Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury, and dedicated
to St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Thomas the Martyr.
Walter Reynolds, a successor of Boniface in that
see, appropriated to the hospital the churches of Sut~
ton, Lillington, alias Linton, and East Farleigh; the revenue
was afterwards transferred to the college founded
by Archbishop Courtenay. There are some doubts
as to the exact situation of this hospital, but the best
authorities suppose it to have stood in the West Bo-
rough; it was called the hospital of the Ney work of
Prestes Helle: its remains are extensive, including a
large building, almost perfect, probably the chapel: a
dwelling-house erected on part of the site is still
known by the name of Newark. The college, which
possessed various lands and advowsons, was dissolved,
according to one account, about 1538; but the best
evidence is in favour of its dissolution about 1546,
when an act was passed for the suppression of all
colleges, free chapels, and chantries: it is now used
as a farm-house, and appears to have been a fine
specimen of decorated English architecture. The house
of the fraternity of Corpus Christi, now used as the
free grammar school, was founded by a few of the inhabitants;
the religious of both sexes of this fraternity
professed the rules of St. Benedict, and their number
was from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and
thirty. A small part of St. Faith's church, considered
by some parochial, though the best accounts call it a
free chapel, is still remaining; it was, at successive periods,
used as a place of worship by the Walloons, who
settled in this town in the reign of Elizabeth, and by
English Presbyterians; in digging the foundation for a
soap-manufactory, near to the ground on which it
stood, several human skeletons were found. (
The Rev. William Newton, some time vicar of Gillingham,
in Dorsetshire, who, in 1751, published the
History and Antiquities of Maidstone, was born in this
town. Also William Woollet, whose talents as an artist
obtained for him the honourable appointment of engraver
to the Icing, and to whose memory a monument,
finely executed by Banks, was erected in the cloisters or
Westminster abbey: the Niobe, from Wilson's celebrated
picture; the Death of Wolfe; and the Fishery, are
considered the most masterly of his productions: he
died in 1785, in his fiftieth year, and was interred m
St. Pancras' churchyard, London. James Jefferys, son
of the above-mentioned William, who painted the altar-
piece in the chuieh, waS also born here; he far excelled
his father in the art of painting, and his bold outline
pen-drawings are considered equal to those of the celebrated
Mortimer. In the churchyard of this town are
deposited the remains of William Shipley, Esq., who resided
here, and was the founder of the Society for the
Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.
Maidstone gives the title of viscount to the Earl of
Winchilsea.