A Timeline of Maidstone

By Tim Lambert

1086 Maidstone has a population of about 250

1250 Maidstone has grown into a small market town

1261 Maidstone is given a charter

1500 Maidstone has a population of about 2,000

1549 Maidstone is given a new charter. A grammar school opens.

1563 Maidstone is struck by plague

1580 Manufacturing wool flourishes in Maidstone

1666 Maidstone is struck by plague for the last time.

1680 The wool industry in Maidstone is in decline

1648 During a royalist uprising parliamentary soldiers attack Maidstone

1700 Maidstone has a population of about 4,000

1739 The Medway is deepened upstream of Maidstone

1791 A body of men is formed to pave and clean the streets and light them with oil lamps

1801 Maidstone has a population of about 8,000

1822 Maidstone gains gas light

1858 A museum opens in Maidstone

1879 Brenchley Gardens are made a public park

1901 Maidstone has a population of about 33,000. The first electricity is generated in Maidstone.

1904 Electric trams run in the streets of Maidstone

1910 The first cinema in Maidstone opens

1955 Hazlitt Theatre opens

1976 The Chequers Centre opens

1983 Maidstone General Hospital opens

2005 Fremlin Walk Shopping Centre opened