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218:, in the Middle Row in 1587. Civic leaders held their meetings in a room on the first floor the lower courthouse. In 1608, a second courthouse, which known as the "upper courthouse", was erected a few yards to the east of the original courthouse, which was subsequently referred to as the "lower courthouse". The upper courthouse was generally used for the assizes while the quarter sessions continued to held in the lower courthouse.
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By 1898, the town hall was already too small for the needs of the growing town, with the local directory stating that the building was "a miserable specimen of the poverty-stricken architecture of those days, possessing no room adequate to the needs of a large town, and necessitating the scattering
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on the ground floor and red brick above and was completed in 1763. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the High Street; it originally had arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held; a council chamber with pedimented windows was established on the
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of the offices of the
Corporation." However, the town hall remained the main meeting place of Maidstone Municipal Borough Council until council offices were established at Tonbridge Road in the 1960s, and the council chamber in the town hall is still used by its successor body,
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applied graffiti to the walls. The gaol was closed in around 1827, apparently after the escape of a prisoner being held there, and the arcading on the ground floor was enclosed to create a police court sometime after 1835.
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In the late 18th century civic leaders decided to erect a new town hall on the site of the lower courthouse which was duly demolished in 1759. The new town hall was financed from a combination of
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first floor. The central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward, was topped with a pediment from which a clock projected. There was a
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443:"'The town and parish of Maidstone: Town and manors', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent"
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ceiling. A prison cell was established above the council chamber: prisoners who were detained there while awaiting
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The first courthouse in the town was erected, for the purposes of hearings of the
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The upper courthouse was also in a very poor state and it was demolished in 1783.
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Clark, Peter; Murfin, Lyn (1995). "Chapter 5: The Late
Georgian Town".
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The
History of Maidstone: The Making of a Modern County Town
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and contributions from the justices. It was designed in the
445:. Canterbury: British History Online. pp. 260–307
194:, England. The town hall, which is a meeting place of
512:"Maidstone Town Centre Conservation Area Appraisal"
242:columns, which was capped with a gilded ball and a
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465:"Maidstone Town Hall – Historic Site in Maidstone"
273:Grade II* listed buildings in Maidstone (borough)
16:Municipal building in Maidstone, Kent, England
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557:"Maidstone Borough Council events page"
517:. Maidstone Borough Council. p. 63
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420:. Alan Sutton Publishing. p. 106.
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186:is a municipal building in Middle Row,
584:Government buildings completed in 1763
594:Buildings and structures in Maidstone
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599:Grade II* listed buildings in Kent
333:National Heritage List for England
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545:. 30 October 1970. p. 12026.
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589:City and town halls in Kent
35:Maidstone Town Hall in 2013
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263:, for committee meetings.
328:"The Town Hall (1086305)"
261:Maidstone Borough Council
196:Maidstone Borough Council
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357:The History of Maidstone
441:Hasted, Edward (1798).
360:. Simpkin. p. 277.
354:Russell, J. M. (1881).
97:Architectural style(s)
379:Russell 1881, p. 279
487:"Maidtone Town Gaol"
406:Russell 1881, p. 329
397:Russell 1881, p. 287
388:Russell 1881, p. 281
370:Russell 1881, p. 207
223:public subscription
184:Maidstone Town Hall
69: /
24:Maidstone Town Hall
542:The London Gazette
227:neoclassical style
137:Reference no.
101:Neoclassical style
73:51.2734°N 0.5221°E
467:. Visit Maidstone
198:, is a Grade II*
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244:weather vane
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132:30 July 1951
44:Middle Row,
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562:30 December
537:"No. 45222"
521:30 December
252:deportation
240:Ionic order
115:– Grade II*
76: /
52:Coordinates
578:Categories
493:30 January
471:30 January
449:30 January
339:30 January
299:References
129:Designated
61:51°16′24″N
188:Maidstone
64:0°31′20″E
46:Maidstone
267:See also
41:Location
216:assizes
206:History
140:1086305
424:
248:Rococo
236:cupola
515:(PDF)
279:Notes
238:with
89:Built
564:2020
523:2020
495:2021
473:2021
451:2021
422:ISBN
341:2021
214:and
192:Kent
92:1763
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
