Historic BuildingsMaidstone

When William the Conquerer came to England in 1066 he brought with him the concept of the castle. He and his men of which there were 12,000 at most, needed rapidly to make themselves secure amongst a potentially hostile population of one and a half million, and simply…
Distance: 11.7 miles away

The great keep of Rochester Castle towers over the River Medway and by its side, an inseparable twin, the magnificent cathedral shares and dominates the skyline.Rochester Castle is known as one of the best preserved and finest examples of Norman architecture in England. Its great keep, square, massive…
Distance: 8.4 miles away

One of the world's most celebrated gardens, the creation of Vita Sackville‐West and her husband Sir Harold NicolsonDeveloped around the surviving parts of an Elizabethan mansion with a central red‐brick prospect tower, a series of small enclosed compartments, intimate in scale and romantic in atmosphere and including the…
Distance: 11.2 miles away

This attractive, turreted castle is set in a picturesque village area that is backed by rolling, wooded hills. The castle is fronted by a water bastion jutting out into the River Medway.Upnor Castle was originally built in 1559 as a gun fort on the orders of Queen Elizabeth…
Distance: 9.6 miles away

St Leonard's Tower is one of the most impressive buildings in Kent, built by Bishop Gundolf, who also built Rochester Cathedral and the White Tower of London.The tower stands almost to its original height and takes its name from a chapel dedicated to St Leonard that once stood…
Distance: 5.3 miles away

The artillery fort at Tilbury protected London until the dawn of the 20th century. Henry VIII built the first fort and, nearby, Elizabeth I rallied her army waiting for the Armada.The present fort, the most complete example of its type in England, was begun in 1672 under Charles…
Distance: 14.4 miles away

Set in the heart of Kent, England, The Friars ‐ Aylesford Priory ‐ is an ancient religious house of the Order of Carmelites dating back to the 13th Century. Over the centuries and now today The Friars has become for thousands of visitors and friends.When the friars returned…
Distance: 3.3 miles away

The ruins of a house of 'white' canons, first founded in C.1208, are now set in an 18th‐century landscape. Rooms in the Georgian Dower House are also open to the public.…
Distance: 12.7 miles away

Brenchley Gardens ‐ Amusement Park in Maidstone, Kent. Contact venue on telephone number 01622752508 for opening times, entrance costs, and attractionsrides available at this park.…
Distance: 0.6 miles away

Cobtree Manor Park ‐ Amusement Park in Aylesford, Kent. Contact venue on telephone number 01622718728 for opening times, entrance costs, and attractionsrides available at this park.…
Distance: 2.6 miles away

Nestling in a sunken valley and dating from 1320, the house has features spanning many centuries. These include the Great Hall, Old Chapel, crypt, Tudor chapel with painted ceiling, drawing room with Jacobean fireplace, frieze and 18th‐century wallpaper, and billiards room. The recently opened South West Quarter includes…
Distance: 11 miles away

Designed in the Picturesque style around the ruins of a 14th‐century moated castle, the garden has spectacular displays of rhododendrons, azaleas and kalmia in May and June, wisteria and roses rambling over the ruins in summer, and trees and ferns providing rich colour in autumn. There are fine…
Distance: 13 miles away