Fremlin Walk is an outdoor

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

town centre,

Kent, England Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

. It opened in 2005 after several years of development by Centros Miller to include of shopping and a 760 space car park. The original owner was Land Securities plc. Legal & General Property bought the centre in 2011 for £92 million. It then passed to M&G Real Estate for £110m.

Location

The main pedestrian entrance to the centre is from the pedestrianised Week Street (one of Maidstone's main shopping streets) to the east. There are other pedestrian entrances from St Faith's Street to the north and Earl Street, to the south. The

A229 A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

Fairmeadow runs parallel to the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

at the western end of the centre, but is approximately 2 storeys lower than the shopping centre. The car park for the centre is located below the

House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...

department store at the western end; vehicle access is from Fairmeadow and Earl Street.

Maidstone East railway station Maidstone East railway station is one of three stations in the central area of Maidstone, Kent, England, but currently the only one with a regular direct service to London. The station is on the Maidstone line, from , and is served by trains op ...

is north of the main pedestrian entrance, along Week Street.

History

The site was previously the

Fremlin's Brewery Fremlin's was a brewery in Maidstone, Kent, England. It was established by Ralph Fremlin in 1861, who eschewed the pub trade and focused on bottled beer, on religious grounds. The beer was known for the distinctive elephant logo on the bottles. Th ...

. It closed to brewing in 1972 and the existing building was just used as a bottling depot. Later on, the site was downgraded once more to a despatch depot. The only original structure from when the site was a brewery, is the arch entrance and clock. To fit in with the scheme of 'new life' for the river area in the town, it was decided that the shipping depot should be demolished, and something new put in its place; a shopping centre. There are still many reminders of the site's past. For example, the management office buildings bear the original gold elephant

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

, an icon of the company. Also, the Fremlins clock was replaced with an identical replica provided by Maidstone

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

. The original brewery entrance has been maintained, and now forms one of the pedestrian entrances. One of the original trademark nodding elephants from the original brewery is on display, fully restored, in the adjacent

Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery Maidstone Museum is a local authority-run museum located in Maidstone, Kent, England, featuring internationally important collections including fine art, natural history, and human history. The museum is one of three operated by Maidstone Boro ...

. In September 2016,

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

(TV show) held auditions at the Bandstand.

Retail

The centre has over 50 shops, and these are mainly top high street brands, as well as phone shops, and various shoe shops. There are

cafés A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

coffee shops A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

and bench seating. Since its opening in 2005, Maidstone has made its way into the top 50 shopping towns in the UK, and now stands at 44th in 2013. The centre is anchored by a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

, at the western (Fairmeadow) end. Other large stores within the centre include

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Stre ...

River Island River Island is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online. Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Isla ...

, Zara, and

Superdry Superdry plc (stylised as SUPERDRY®︎冒険魂) is a UK branded clothing company, and owner of the Superdry label. Superdry products combine vintage Americana (culture), American styling with Japanese-inspired graphics. It is listed on the ...

References

External links

Fremlin Walk website
{{Shopping centres in Southeast England Buildings and structures in Maidstone Shopping centres in Kent