Fremlin Walk is a shopping centre in the town of Maidstone

Maidstone

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

. it opened in 2005 after several years of development by Centros Miller to include 350000 sq ft (32,516.1 m²) of shopping and an 800 space car park.

History

The site was previously a factory making Fremlins' Ales & Beers, However, in the 1970s, the Victorian brewery was closed and the existing building just used as a bottling depot. Later on, the site was downgraded once more to a despatch depot. The only original structure from when the site was a brewery, is the arch entrance and clock.

To fit in with the scheme of 'new life' for the river area in the town, it was decided that the shipping depot should be demolished, and something new put in its place; a shopping centre.

History Maintained

There are still many reminders of the site's past. For example, the management office buildings bear the original gold elephant weather vane

Weather vane

A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....

, an icon of the company. Also, the Fremlins clock was replaced with an identical replica provided by Maidstone Rotary Club. The original brewery entrance has been maintained, and now forms one of the pedestrian entrances.

One of the original trademark nodding elephants from the original brewery is on display, fully restored, in the adjacent Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery

Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery

Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery is in Maidstone, Kent, England. It is located on St. Faith's Street, opposite Fremlin Walk, a new shopping centre in the region.- Overview :...

.

The Shopping Centre Today

Today, the centre has over 50 shops, and these are mainly top high street brands, as well as phone shops, and various shoe shops. There are cafés, coffee shops and plenty of benches. Since its opening in 2005, Maidstone has pushed its way into the top 50 shopping towns in the UK, and now stands at 48th.

External links

• Fremlin Walk Site

Legal & Property buys Fremlin Walk Shopping Centre