Toponomy of Maidstone
Saxon charters (c.975) show the first recorded instances of the town's name, ‘de maeides stana’ and ‘maegdan stane’, most likely meaning ‘stone of the maidens’ or possibly ‘stone of the people’. The latter denotation may signify the nearby megalith, around which gatherings took place.
The Domesday Book shows the name evolved through ‘medestan’ and ‘meddestane’ until the modern name appeared in 1610. It has also been suggested that the name originates from stones set into the river to allow clothes to be rinsed in the cleaner water away from the banks of the river.
