Allington

Allington Lock is based on the River Medway, there are eight locks on the river. Allington is the lowest, opened in 1792 and is the extent of tides. The others are Farleigh, Teston, Hampstead Lane, East Lock, Porter's, Eldridge's and Tonbridge Town.

Allington is an almost entirely modern village situated on either side of the A20 road west of Maidstone in Kent. It is part of the built-up area of Maidstone.

The name Allington, which is shared by another place of the same name near Lenham, is derived from the Old English tun farmstead; it comes via eleventh-century Elentun and was connected with a man called Ælla.

Its main claim to history is Allington Castle, which 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 By the mid 19th century it was derelict, but was restored in 1905; in 1951 it was taken over by the Carmelite order. Today it is an international conference centre and is not open to the public.



As you can see - you can't even get close enough to be nosey!