Tyler's at Loose in autumn

Image: © Marathon Taken: 9 Nov 2019

The Loose stream rises near Langley and flows into the River Medway near Tovil. For several hundred years until the early 20th century the valley was a local centre of industry with a number of ragstone quarries and a series of 13 water-powered mills. The historian William Lambarde recorded that the mills all existed in 1570. At various times they were engaged in fulling woollen cloth, paper making and corn grinding. They have all either been demolished or long ceased working but the Loose Valley and the sites of the mills were designated a Conservation Area by Maidstone Borough Council in 2000. The name Loose seems to come from the Old English 'hlose' meaning 'place of pigs', probably reflecting the main activity of the local Saxon peasants. This view is from the causeway between Old Loose Hill and Kirkdale which separates the Loose stream from the millpond, both of which served Loose Mill in Bridge Street until it closed in 1912. This looks across the millpond to the timber-framed Tyler's, once three cottages but much altered since.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0