Maidstone grew from a village into a town mainly on the back of market trading the town’s best asset was, and in part still is, the swirling river Medway which brought all manner of goods to buy and sell to the town. Fish, cloth, corn, dairy, fruit, grain and livestock were the main market attractions and by the 1700’s the market stretched the length of the High Street with the Corn Exchange and Market Buildings at its heart. In 1720 the market was considered one of the finest in Britain. The market has been at the heart of our county town for generations and yet today, although still a crucial part of Maidstone, the market seems side lined.
In 2011 the population figure for Maidstone, taken from information published at http://www.kmpt.nhs.uk from the office of National Statistics, was listed as 155,143 people. In comparison, the population in 1800 was 20,000 people – quite a difference and more people meant more competition. Based at Lock Meadow, today Maidstone Market is not as well situated as it was in the 1700’s and the market also has huge competition from the retail sector which has only relatively recently sprung to life. The Mall Shopping Centre, Royal Star Arcade and Fremlin Walk all keep shoppers in the town centre yet less than ten minutes’ walk away is the hustle and bustle of the market.
Today the market is not a place for the buying and selling of livestock as it was in years gone by but for selling every kind of household item you can think of! There are gifts too and fresh food to last you the week. Pet products, jewellery, household goods on a huge stall that looks like a cash and carry, meat, fresh fish, fresh flowers, pictures, bric ‘o’ brac, jeans, boots, trainers, clothes, hats, scarves, books, garden tools, gloves and even onesies are all sold here as well as the all-important tea and coffee van to keep your thirst at bay.
The market is largely under cover, split into three areas – the Market Hall, Market Square and the undercroft. One huge advantage the market has over it’s competitors is the freshness of the food and better prices. Stall holder Frank from ‘Franks Wet Fish’ highlighted the difference in the freshness of his fish compared to supermarkets “…there was an article in the paper about comparing freshness of fish in different supermarkets. The freshest fish they found was three weeks old! You go to the fishmonger and it’s one day old. I try to get most of my fish off of the local trawlers at Ramsgate if not, I go to Billingsgate” Frank was convinced the freshness is the big difference between fishmongers and supermarkets, that and the price. Although supermarkets have deals on fish and keep prices low Frank explained he was selling Bass for £4 which was fresher and larger than the £4 Bass in the local supermarket.
Other stall holders said the market was cheaper with fresher products too, “Produce is bought on the day we sell it” Bernard Gilbert from the Fruit and Veg stall told me, “I’ve collected from Spitalfields market in Hackney on the same day. I think it’s cheaper – you don’t get that at supermarkets where produce can be hanging around for several days.” Bernard (who has been coming to Maidstone Market to sell for twenty years) concluded.