Loose, Kent
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Loose is a village some south of
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 ...
,
Kent 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 ...
, situated at the head of the Loose Valley, with which it forms the Loose Valley Conservation Area. The fast- flowing River Loose which rises near
Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...
runs through the centre of the village and once supported a paper-making industry, evidence of which can still be found. An area round the village is also known as Loose, but Loose village itself is based in the Loose valley and extends along Busbridge Road towards
Tovil Tovil is a civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone, in Kent in the South East of England. It is a mixture of residential and industrial zoning, with an increase in commercial usage towards the centre of Maidstone, and more arable use on the out ...
. The name is believed to be taken from the Loose Stream, which "loses" itself for several miles underground from the point where it rises in Langley (Edward Hasted: ''Hlosan'' in Saxon, signifying to lose or be lost).


History

Loose originated in Saxon times, but its main period of growth was during the Industrial Revolution, when Loose,
Boughton Monchelsea Boughton Monchelsea is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The civil parish lies on a ragstone ridge situated between the North Downs and the Weald of Kent and has commonly been called Quarry Hills. The vi ...
and Bockingford developed around the seven mills powered by the Loose Stream. There are several remains of the mills, including millraces at Leg O'Mutton Pond, Gurney's Mill, Loose Village Mill in Bridge Street, the mill ponds at Little and Great Ivy mills, and further down the valley in Crismill and
Hayle Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...
, where the old paper mill stands with one remaining chimney. This site has now been redeveloped as housing. Further south are disused quarries where Kentish ragstone was once quarried, some being sent for use at the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
. South along the Loose Road (A229), terminating at the post office, ran a tram way to and from Maidstone and Barming, the trams were replaced by trolley buses on the Loose route in 1930, they were in turn replaced by motor buses in 1967. Loose Hill descends into Loose village and the valley, the hill being so steep that in the 18th and 19th centuries the owner the aptly named "Change", half way up the hill, kept horses that were hired out to provide assistance in hauling carts to the top. The road is still lined with haul stones around which ropes were tied to help relieve the horses from the weight of the carts. Across the stream from ''The Chequers'' is Brooks Field. The more gentle hill on the opposite side of the valley leafs back towards the Maidstone to Hawkhurst road and is known as Old Loose Hill.


Features

In the village, the Brooks Path is a picturesque causeway along the Loose Stream that joins the two ends of the village, dividing the mill pond which once fed the village mill. All Saints Church in the
Diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest see of the Church of England. The ''Report ...
, overlooks this section of river. A local tradition has it that whoever sticks a pin in the old yew tree in the churchyard, then runs around it anticlockwise at midnight, will on looking through a small window above the Charlton Memorial against the church wall, see a vision of a woman killing a baby. The Reverend Richard Boys was vicar here and also chaplain of St Helena during Napoleon Bonaparte's exile on the island. He is buried in the churchyard. To the east of the village is the Loose Viaduct, attributed to
Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...
and built in 1830 to carry the
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 ...
to
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
road (the present day
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 ...
) across the Loose Valley. The village has two public houses. ''The Chequers'' is in the valley beside the river and ''The Walnut Tree'' on the main A229 opposite Loose Infant School and Loose Junior School, which share the same site.
New Line Learning Academy New Line Learning Academy is a coeducational secondary school with academy status under The Future Schools Trust banner, which includes the nearby Cornwallis Academy, Tiger Primary School, and Tiger Cubs Day Nursery. It is located in Loose (n ...
is a secondary school located in the village. A third pub, ''The Kings Arms'', closed in 2005 and is now a private house. In the centre of Loose Village there is a large 14th-century building, Church House. The world-famous "Gonzo" illustrator
Ralph Steadman Ralph Idris Steadman (born 15 May 1936) is a British illustrator best known for his collaboration and friendship with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons and picture b ...
lives in Old Loose Court, just outside the parish and the 'Beechgrove Garden' (BBC Scotland) presenter Carole Baxter was born there. The novelist
Ernest Elmore Ernest Carpenter Elmore (4 November 1901 – 8 November 1957) was an English theatre producer and director, and writer of crime and fantasy novels. He wrote his crime novels under the pseudonym John Bude. Life Elmore was born in Maidstone, Kent ...
(who also wrote as John Bude) lived in Loose in the 1930s.''Catalog of Copyright Entries. New Series: 1931, Part 1'' (Washington, DC: Library of Congress), p. 2054. The artist and calligrapher
Mildred Ratcliffe Mildred Mary Ratcliffe FSSI (1899–1988) was an English painter, commercial artist & calligrapher, known for her poster designs for the Post Office Savings Bank. Biography Ratcliffe was born on 17 October 1899 in Rochester, Kent as the seco ...
(1899-1988) retired to the cottage at 1, Mill Street, in 1959. She painted a number of the village's buildings.


See also

*
Loose Stream The Loose Stream sometimes called the River Loose or Langley Stream is a tributary of the River Medway notable for the number of watermills that it powered in its short length. It rises in Langley, flows through Boughton Monchelsea, Loose ...


References


External links


Loose Parish CouncilAll Saints' Church LooseBBC Kent page about Loose
{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent