•  Allington, Kent

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Allington like this:

ALLINGTON, a parish in Malling district, Kent; on the river Medway and the Maidstone railway, 1½ mile NNW of Maidstone. Post Town, Maidstone. Acres, 612. Real property, £1,495. Pop., 66. Houses, 10. The manor was granted, at the Conquest, to William de Warrene; passed to the family of Allington, to Sir Stephen de Penchester, to the Cobhams, the Brents, and the Wyatts; was the birthplace of Sir Thomas Wyatt the poet, and of his son Sir Thomas, who headed the insurrection against Queen Mary; was given, at the confiscation of manors, to Sir John Astley; and passed, in 1720, to the Earl of Romney. ...

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A castle was built on it by Warrene, rebuilt by Penchester, extended by the Wyatts, and abandoned to ruin by Astley. Considerable part of the structure still stands, and presents interesting features. The exterior is a long parallelogram, with projecting circular towers; and the interior is divided by a range of low building, with archway, into two distinct courts. A wide moat, fed from the Medway, nearly encircles the pile; and a farm house, of picturesque character, built out of fallen parts of the castle, stands adjacent. Gentle hills, mostly covered with wood, rise in the vicinity; and irregular mounds, which probably were ornamental features in the once-noble park, lie between the castle and the river. Wyatt, the poet, describing his life here, says,-

This maketh me at home to hunt and hawk;
And in foul weather at my book to sit;
In frost and snow then with my bow to stalk;
No man doth mark whereto I ride or go,
In lusty leas at liberty I walk;
And of these news, I feel nor weal nor woe.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £145.* Patron, the Earl of Romney. The church is decorated English, in very good condition.

Allington through time

Allington is now part of Maidstone district. Click here for graphs and data of how Maidstone has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Allington itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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