Maidstone Market

Lockmeadow

In the mid-15th century, there was a park situated on the opposite side of the river to the Archbishops’ Palace. It was known as the ‘Court Garden’ or ‘My Lord’s Garden’ and was part of the estate belonging to the Palace. The area is now called ‘Lockmeadow’ after a lock and weir (pictured below), which were removed in the 1920s.

Maidstone began to boom as an industrial and society town in the 18th century with the river providing a critical transport link to move goods to London and beyond. This meant the river frontage was largely industrial, including warehouses along the riverbank where the law courts now stand, and a number of wharfs for loading and unloading goods. The remains of one of these can still be seen between the Law Courts and the Lockmeadow building.