Some interesting old photographs of Maidstone

Today many of us carry cameras in our phones which is useful but Maidstone has a host of interesting old photography which can be found at Maidstone Museum and to whom all of the photos included here belong. Photography was invented in the late 1830's and whilst much was formal it has changed over the centuries. However, thought we would like to share some of this with you, as it shows how business, the river, the buildings and the community have changed.  Many building still exist and health and safety rules then were not the same.

This area now is Jubilee Square and in the background is the Star Hotel, now the Royal Star Arcade shopping centre.

This is a picture of the Lower High Street in 1885. The roads were rather unmade and muddy then.

The Bluecoat School was demolished in the early 1900's and would have been found in Knightrider Street on the corner of Mill Street.  It later became a workhouse, before that moved to Coxheath.

This elevation of Maidstone Museum in 1885 has hardly changed at all.  You would recognise it immediately from this photograph.

This is the old bridge in Maidstone and whilst it was useful and changed the need for wading through the horseway, you can see that the boats which were a crucial part of Maidstone's industrial history could not go under the bridge and therefore the warehousing and docks were downstream of the current Kentish Lady moorings.

This is how the river looked for many years and was busy with boats and why so many of the population put their occupation down as sailors. This would have been now Maidstone's famous gin travelled, along with the crops from the Garden of England, as they headed into London.

Here you can see the riverside of the Archbishop's Palace which has hardly changed at all with the exception of the new Millennium Bridge.  The lock disappeared soon after this photograph was taken. Smaller boats would have been able to bring produce down the river to load for travelling to London, hence the important markets in Maidstone.

Betts Butchers in Week Street, still has the original pargeting which can be view today although it is no longer a butchers.

This is the last Horse Bus in Maidstone, as you can see it is totally loaded with people and baggage.  This is outside the Town Hall and is heading down hill but had it been the other way around and coming up the hill a 3rd "Cock Horse" would have been added to help with the load.

I hope you have enjoyed these old photographs in this blog.  More can be found at Maidstone Museum.