Maidstone, the county town of Kent, on the right bank of the Medway, 34 miles ESE. of London by road (4l 1/2 by rail), and 25 W. of Canterbury. At its west entrance, overlooking the river, which is spanned by a three-arch stone bridge, built 1877-79 at a cost of £55,000, stand the picturesque remains of All-Saints' College, originally established in 1260 as a hospital for pilgrims travelling to Canterbury. Close by is All-Saints' Church, a fine example of the Perpendicular style, built towards the end of the 14th century. Schools of art and music occupy a former palace of the archbishops of Canterbury ; and other features of interest are a grammar-school, founded 1549, and rebuilt on a new site, 1871; museum and public library, established 1858 in Chillington House; town-hall (1764) ; county jail (1812-19) ; hospital (1832-89) ; cavalry and militia barracks; corn exchange (1835); and a public park on Penenden Heath to the NE. of the town. Lining the river-banks are numerous paper-mills and a large oil-mill, whilst several breweries are in operation, and an important traffic is carried on in hops. Maidstone returned two members till 1885, when the number was reduced to one, and was first incorporated as a municipal borough in 1548. Pop. (1801) 8027; (1831) 15,387; (1901) 33,516. Maidstone was stormed in 1648 by Fairfax. Woollett the engraver, Hazlitt the essayist, and Newman Hall were natives; and Sir Thomas Wyatt the poet lived at Allington Castle, 2 miles distant. See works by J. M. Russell (1881) and the Rev. J. Cave-Browne (1889).