Whatman Park, known locally as Millennium Park, is a park in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest 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 centre of the town, linking it wi ...

, Kent. It lies along the River Medway, around 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the town centre, and is named after the Whatman papermaking factory nearby, in operation from 1740 until 2014, at the site at Springfield Mill.

History

The park was opened by

Terry Waite Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939) is an English humanitarian and author. Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of England, he ...

and the then Mayor of Maidstone Paulina Stockell in 2001 as part of the

millennium celebrations The millennium celebrations were a worldwide, coordinated series of events to celebrate and commemorate the end of 1999 and the start of the year 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. The celebrations were held as marking the end of the 2nd millennium ...

, using money provided by the National Lottery's 'lasting legacy project'. To mark the Millennium, hundreds of young children's hand and footprints were used as part of an art installation, as well as a piece of public art in the form of a 60-yard long double helix by Scottish sculptor David Annand. In recent years the park has hosted the Maidstone Mela, an annual world art, music and food festival, as well as various open air cinema events.

Facilities

The park features two children's playgrounds, a skate park, boardwalks which run through trees, an open air stage — the ''riverstage''. Both of the river boats, the Kentish Lady and Allington Belle have request stops in the park.

References

{{Reflist Maidstone Borough Council Urban public parks Borough of Maidstone