Allington, Kent

Allington
Allington
	Allington Castle from the opposite bank of the Medway
	Allington Location within Kent
Population	7,100 (2005); 6,878 (2011)
OS grid reference	TQ745575
District	Maidstone ;
Shire county	Kent ;
Region	South East ;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MAIDSTONE
Postcode district	ME16
Dialling code	01622
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Maidstone and The Weald ;
	List of places UK England Kent 51°17′25″N0°30′07″E / 51.2903°N 0.5019°E

Last updated April 22, 2024

Allington Lock on the Medway, looking upriver AllingtonLock2.JPG — Allington Lock on the Medway, looking upriver

Allington is an almost entirely modern village situated alongside the sides of the A20 road west of Maidstone in Kent, England. It is part of the built-up area of Maidstone.

History

The name Allington, which is shared by a hamlet near Lenham, is derived from the Old English tun farmstead; it comes via eleventh-century Elentun and was connected with a man called Ælla.

Allington Castle was originally built in the 11th century. In 1281 the present stone castle was built, which was converted to a mansion in the 15th century. In 1492 the castle came into the possession of the Wyatt family. By the mid-19th century it was derelict, but was restored in 1905; in 1951 it was taken over by the Carmelite order. Today it is owned by Sir Robert Worcester as a private residence and is not open to the public.

The few dwellings around the castle had a population of 49 in 1841. There was a church dedicated to St Laurence which closed in 1969. In the modern village is a modern parish church dedicated to St Nicholas, the second to be built on the site. Furnishings from St Laurence's are used here.

In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 114.^[3] On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Maidstone and Boxley.^[4] It is now in the unparished area of Maidstone.

Amenities

It has two primary schools, Allington Primary and Palace Wood. The Mid Kent Shopping Centre opened in 1969^[5] and includes a Waitrose supermarket and smaller shops.

Down the hill from St Laurence's Church is the River Medway, Allington Lock and Allington Sluice. There is a footpath over the lock. Below the lock, the Medway becomes tidal. On the other bank is the Malta Inn, and Kent Life museum. A footpath runs from here to Teston. A Park and Sail service (claimed to be the only one in England)^[6] operates on the weekends leading up to Christmas. Using the car park and boarding by the Malta Inn, the MV Kentish Lady carries shoppers to Maidstone and back.

The nearby 20/20 industrial park, named after the adjacent M20/A20 junction, includes Allington Quarry Waste Management Facility.

At Poplar Park residents have use of football pitches, tennis courts and a children's play area.

Sports

Castle Colts along with the affiliate club Castle Wanderers are the local football teams. Both play their home games at the ACA. Jon Harley played for Castle Colts in his youth before being scouted by Chelsea.^[7]

Related Research Articles

Kent is a county in the South East England region, the closest county to continental Europe. It borders Essex across the entire estuary of the River Thames to the north; the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover to the south-east; East Sussex to the south-west; Surrey to the west and Greater London to the north-west. The county town is Maidstone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylesford</span> Human settlement in England

Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Maidstone.

Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-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 carried much of the town's trade as the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, which is known as the Garden of England. There is evidence of settlement in the area dating back before the Stone Age. The town, part of the borough of Maidstone, had an approximate population of 100,000 in 2019. Since World War II, the town's economy has shifted from heavy industry towards light industry and services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Medway</span> River in South East England

The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance of 70 miles (113 km). About 13 miles (21 km) of the river lies in East Sussex, with the remainder being in Kent.

Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. The council is based at Kings Hill. The borough also includes the towns of Tonbridge and Snodland along with numerous villages including Aylesford, West Malling and surrounding rural areas.

Rainham is a town in the unitary authority area of Medway, in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Gillingham.

Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham and Rainham. It lies on the northwest bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yalding</span> Human settlement in England

Yalding is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The village is situated 6 miles (9.7 km) south west of Maidstone at a point where the Rivers Teise and Beult join the River Medway. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Benover, Laddingford and Queen Street, had a population of 2,236. increasing to 2,418 at the 2011 Census.

Sutton Valence is a village about five miles (8 km) SE of Maidstone, Kent, England on the A274 road going south to Headcorn and Tenterden. It is on the Greensand Ridge overlooking the Vale of Kent and Weald. St Mary's Church is on the west side of the village on Chart Road, close to the junction of the High Street with the A274. Another landmark is Sutton Valence Castle on the east side of the village, of which only the ruins of the 12th-century keep remain, under the ownership of English Heritage.

Boughton Monchelsea is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The civil parish lies on a ragstone ridge situated between the North Downs and the Weald of Kent and has commonly been called Quarry Hills. The village itself is located 3 miles (5 km) south of the town of Maidstone.

Allington Castle is a stone castle in Allington, Kent, just north of Maidstone, in England. The first castle on the site was an unauthorised fortification, built during "The Anarchy" (1135–1153) and torn down later in the century when royal control was reasserted. It was replaced by a manor house, which was fortified with royal permission in the 13th century. Various alterations and expansions were made by successive owners over the following two centuries. The property was developed into a fortified compound with six towers at irregular intervals along the curtain wall and domestic buildings in the interior, including one of the first long galleries built in England. In 1554 it was seized by the Crown in the course of dispossessing its owner, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger, after the failure of his rebellion against Queen Mary.

Capel is a hamlet and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The parish is located on the north of the Weald, 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east of Tonbridge. The southern part of the parish lies within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, whilst most of the land also falls within the Metropolitan Green Belt. As well as Capel itself, the parish includes the communities of Castle Hill, Colts Hill, Five Oak Green, Postern, Tudeley and Whetsted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teston</span> Human settlement in England

Teston /ˈtiːstən/ or /ˈtiːsən/ is a village in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. It is located on the A26 road out of Maidstone, four miles (6.4 km) from the town centre. There is a narrow stone bridge over the River Medway here.

Whitlingham is a small hamlet and former civil parish at the mouth of the River Wensum, now in the parish of Kirby Bedon, in the South Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located 3 miles (5 km) east of Norwich, on the south bank of the River Yare, reached from Trowse along Whitlingham Lane. In 1931 the parish had a population of 99. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Kirby Bedon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halling, Kent</span> Human settlement in England

Halling is a village on the North Downs in the northern part of Kent, England. Consisting of Lower Halling, Upper Halling and North Halling, it is scattered over some 3 miles (5 km) along the River Medway parallel to the Pilgrims' Way which runs through Kent.

Ditton is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The village is 4.6 miles (7.4 km) west-northwest of Maidstone and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) east of West Malling. The parish, which is long and narrow, straddles the A20, with farmland to the south and industry to the north. It lies in the Medway Valley, on the northern edge of the Kent Weald, and adjoins the ancient parishes of Larkfield, Aylesford and Barming.

Hunton is a civil parish and village near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England.

Ryarsh is a village and civil parish in the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is home to around 1,000 residents. Ryarsh is west of Maidstone and north of West Malling.

Lidsing is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Boxley, in the Maidstone district, in the county of Kent, England. It is near the M2 motorway and south of Gillingham, adjacent to Bredhurst. In 1911 the parish had a population of 98.

Kentish ragstone is a hard grey limestone in Kent, England, drawn from the geological sequence known as the Hythe Beds of the Lower Greensand. For millennia it has been quarried for use both locally and further afield.

References

↑ "2005 Ward Level Population Estimates" (PDF). Kent County Council. September 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2007.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
↑ "Maidstone Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
↑ "Population statistics Allington CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 21 April 2024.
↑ "Relationships and changes Allington CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
↑ Plaque on the south elevation of the shopping centre
↑ Kentish Lady (retrieved 9 January 2011)
↑ "Former Chelsea defender Jon Harley signs for Maidstone United after tweets with manager Jay Saunders". www.kentonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013.

External links

Media related to Allington, Kent at Wikimedia Commons
Allington Lock and Slipway
Allington Library
Allington in the Domesday Book

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "2005 Ward Level Population Estimates" (PDF). Kent County Council. September 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2007.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[2] "Maidstone Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 September 2016.

[3] "Population statistics Allington CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 21 April 2024.

[4] "Relationships and changes Allington CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 21 April 2024.

[5] Plaque on the south elevation of the shopping centre

[6] Kentish Lady (retrieved 9 January 2011)

[7] "Former Chelsea defender Jon Harley signs for Maidstone United after tweets with manager Jay Saunders". www.kentonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]