Maidstone
Maidstone , the county town of Kent, has been occupied since the Neolithic era (8000 bc and 5000 bc) although its name isn’t recorded until c.975 as ‘de maeides stana’ and ‘maegdan stane’ in the Saxon Charters. Most early definitions suggest that the name refers to the 'stone of the Maidens', though to what this refers is uncertain.
In the Doomday Book, Maidstone is referred to as 'Meddestone' where 5 mills, 2 eels fisheries and 2 salt pans were listed amongst the towns assets.
Maidstone is situated on the River Medway. The River runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and later to the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Such is the importance of the River Medway to Maidstone that it figures on the town's coat of arms as a blue 'fesse' (a horizontal wavy line). A later addition to the coat of arms was the white horse's head, which appears on the county's shield and thus signified Maidstone as the County Town. In addition, around the horses neck is a chaplet or necklace of hops, indicating the importance of this crop to Kent and to Maidstone itself, which had a number of breweries.
See the links above right for more information on some of the features and landmarks in Maidstone.