Loose

"LOOSE, a parish in the hundred of Maidstone, lathe of Aylesford, county Kent, 2 miles S. of Maidstone, its post town, and 6½ N.W. of Staplehurst. It is situated on a tributary of the river Medway. The main road between Cranbrook and Maidstone passes through the village. The neighbourhood abounds with hop-grounds and orchards-the fruit of which, particularly filberts, are sent in considerable quantities for the supply of the London market. Many of the people are employed in the tanyards and brewery, and in the corn, fulling, and paper mills, which are worked by a stream which flows through this place. There are quarries of ragstone. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Canterbury, value £492, in the patronage of the archbishop. The church is dedicated to All Saints. The register commences in 1570. There are some small charities producing about £3 annually."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]