Maidstone ( ) is an inner suburb in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria,

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, north-west of Melbourne's

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, located with the City of Maribyrnong

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. Maidstone recorded a population of 9,389 at the . The suburb predominantly consists of residential areas. Its former industrial uses largely continue today, although some parts have been converted to various types of housing. Today there is a large private golf club in the north-west corner with a small industrial zone in the centre.

History

Maidstone was established in 1858. It was given the name after the town 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 ...

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. Maidstone was predominantly made up of period weatherboard, brick

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

and Californian Bungalow houses constructed between the 1920s and 1940s. Concrete houses built in the late 1940s to house the families of returned servicemen from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

are also found. From the early 1990s many old factory sites in Maidstone have been turned into new housing estates comprising hundreds of houses and townhouses. Maidstone's recent development boost, good public transport availability and close proximity to the CBD has also seen the median house price escalate dramatically over the past 10 years.

Geography

Landmarks

* Maidstone Tennis Club * Maribyrnong River * Maribyrnong River Trail * Medway Golf Club * Highpoint Shopping Centre (just north of Maidstone) * Footscray Hospital (just east of Maidstone)

Parks and gardens

* Shepherd Gardens * Maidstone Tennis Club * Suffolk Triangle Park * Drey Park * Ulmara Park * Chislon Reserve * Scovell Reserve Oval * Rogers Reserve * Dobson Reserve Oval and Playground * Cambridge Reserve * Magnolia Path * Johnson Reserve and Roberta Tennis Club (West Footscray) * Martin Reserve Dog Park (West Footscray) * Shorten Reserve Oval (West Footscray) * Maribyrnong River

Places of worship

* Our Lady's Catholic Church is a landmark building established in 1962, located on

Ballarat Road Ballarat Road is a major urban arterial road in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia. Route Ballarat Road commences at the interchange with Western Highway (Victoria), Western Freeway ...

. * Al-Noor Mosque is the second oldest mosque in Melbourne and one of the oldest in Australia. * Hillsong Church * New Apostolic Church * Maidstone Church of Christ * Iglesia Ni Cristo

Education

Schools

* Maribyrnong College (est 1958), located in Maribyrnong on the border of Maidstone and Maribyrnong. * Footscray North Primary School (est 1922), located in Footscray on the border of Maidstone and Footscray. * Footscray West Primary School (just south of Maidstone) * Dobson Kindergarten * St Vincent's School

Sports

* Maidstone United Soccer Club (formally Leros United Soccer Club) (Scovell Reserve) * Sunshine George Cross Juniors Soccer Club (Dobson Reserve) * Rosamond Bowling Club * Rosamond Tennis Club (Footscray North Primary School) * Maidstone Tennis Club * Maidstone Junior Sporting Club * Footscray United Cricket Club (Scovell Reserve) * Rosamond Bowling Club * Medway Golf Club

Transport

Public transport

Tram route 57 tram provides public transport from Flinders Street station in the city to Cordite Avenue, West Maribyrnong, on the border of Maidstone, while tram route 82 tram provides public transport from Moonee Ponds Junction (Ascot Vale Road / Puckle Street) to Footscray (Leeds Street / Irving Street) passing through Maidstone for a segment of its journey. It is one of very few Melbourne tram routes which do not travel through the

Melbourne CBD The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

. In 2022, construction of the Maidstone tram depot is scheduled to commence.Maidstone home for Next Generation Trams

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

West Footscray and

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

train stations are the closest to Maidstone but many residents catch the bus to Footscray station (where trains are more frequent). A number of different bus routes pass through Maidstone.

Active transport

The Maribyrnong River Trail connects cyclists to the Footscray Road off-road path and into Docklands and the Melbourne CBD.

Notable people

* Albert Facey – Author of A Fortunate Life and

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

veteran was born in Maidstone in 1894. He would leave Maidstone in 1898. He has a street named after him in the eastern part of Maidstone.

References

External links

Maidstone Suburb Profile
{{City of Maribyrnong suburbs Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Maribyrnong