Allington is an almost entirely modern village situated alongside the sides of the A20 road north-west 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 east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. It is part of the built-up area of Maidstone.

Arthur Mee Arthur Henry Mee (21 July 187527 May 1943) was an English writer, journalist and educator. He is best known for ''The Harmsworth Self-Educator'', ''The Children's Encyclopædia'', ''The Children's Newspaper'', and ''The King's England''. Ea ...

praised it in the 20th century, using the analogy that "if Kent is the garden of England, Allington is like an English rose set in the midst of it."''''

History

The name Allington, which is shared by a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

near

Lenham Lenham is a market village and civil parish in the Maidstone district, in Kent, England, situated on the southern edge of the North Downs, east of Maidstone. The picturesque square in the village has two public houses (one of which is a hot ...

, is derived from the Old English ''tun'' farmstead; it comes via eleventh-century ''Elentun'' and was connected with a man called Ælla. It has been suggested that

Celtic Britons The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', , ), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were the Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages, at which point they diverged into the Welsh, ...

had built a moated village on the site. Allington Castle was originally built in the 11th century. In 1281 the present stone castle was built, which was converted to a mansion in the 15th century. In 1492 the castle came into the possession of the

Wyatt family The Wyatt family included several of the major English architects during the 18th and 19th centuries, and a significant 18th century inventor, John Wyatt (inventor), John Wyatt (1700–1766), the eldest son of John Wyatt (1675–1742). The fami ...

. By the mid-19th century it was derelict, but was restored in 1905; in 1951 it was taken over by the

Carmelite order The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

. Today it is owned by Sir Robert Worcester as a private residence and is not open to the public. The few dwellings around the castle had a population of 49 in 1841. There was a church dedicated to St Laurence which closed in 1969. In the modern village is a modern parish church dedicated to St Nicholas, the second to be built on the site. Furnishings from St Laurence's are used here. In 1931 the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

had a population of 114. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Maidstone and Boxley. It is now in the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

of Maidstone.

Amenities

It has two primary schools, Allington Primary and Palace Wood. The Mid Kent Shopping Centre opened in 1969Plaque on the south elevation of the shopping centre and includes a Waitrose supermarket and smaller shops. Down the hill from St Laurence's Church is the

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

, Allington Lock and Allington Sluice. There is a footpath over the lock. Below the lock, the Medway becomes tidal. On the other bank is the Malta Inn and Kent Life museum. A footpath runs from here to

Teston Teston The Place Names of Kent,Judith Glover,1976,Batsford. or BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names — is a is a village and civil parish in the Maidstone (borough), Maidstone District of Kent, England. It is located on the A26 r ...

. A ''Park and Sail'' service (claimed to be the only one in England) operates on the weekends leading up to Christmas. Using the car park and boarding by the Malta Inn, the MV Kentish Lady carries shoppers to Maidstone and back. The nearby 20/20 industrial park, named after the adjacent M20/ A20 junction, includes

Allington Quarry Waste Management Facility The Allington Quarry Waste Management Facility is an integrated waste management centre in Allington, Kent. It is the site of the Allington Energy from Waste (EfW) Incinerator. The incinerator is owned by FCC Environment as Kent Enviropower. T ...

. At Poplar Park residents have use of football pitches, tennis courts and a children's play area.

Sports

Castle Colts along with the affiliate club Castle Wanderers are the local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams. Both play their home games at the ACA.

Jon Harley Jon Harley (born 26 September 1979) is an English professional football coach and former player. He is currently assistant manager of EFL Championship club Portsmouth. A left-back, he played for Chelsea and Fulham in the Premier League, Wimble ...

played for Castle Colts in his youth before being scouted by Chelsea.

References

External links

*
Allington Lock and Slipway

Allington Library
* {{Authority control Villages in Kent Former civil parishes in Kent Maidstone

History

Amenities

Sports

See also

References

External links