The Chimney That Survived: Redrow's Maidstone Mill Scheme Nears Sell-Out

Redrow's The Mill, a housing scheme on the site of one of Maidstone's most historically significant factories, is down to its final homes - a handful of apartments and one remaining house type, built around a Grade II listed chimney that's the last visible trace of a genuine world first.

Maidstone was already a major papermaking centre - there were 14 mills in the area by 1733, and around 40 by 1865 - when William Balston opened Springfield Mill on the banks of the Medway at the end of 1807. Balston had trained under James Whatman II at nearby Turkey Mill, one of the 18th century's most celebrated paper makers, and borrowed £5,000 from Whatman to help set up on his own. His new mill's 36 horsepower Boulton & Watt beam engine made it, according to Historic England, the first paper mill in the world to be successfully powered solely by steam.

The chimney wasn't always where it stands today. The original was inside the mill itself, but smoke pollution was affecting the paper, so a replacement was built in its current position around 1809 - only for that one to fall into disrepair after flue problems sent production back to the original. The chimney standing today was rebuilt in 1837, remained in use until the beam engine was decommissioned in 1896-97, and was first listed Grade II in 2015, shortly after a later extension to its top was removed.

Production at Springfield Mill continued until 2014, and most of the factory buildings were cleared in 2018 to make way for housing - but the chimney stayed, along with the separately listed Rag Room. Redrow's finished scheme keeps the connection explicit: one apartment block is named Balston House, after the mill's founder, standing alongside York House on a site that takes its road name, James Whatman Way, from the man who lent Balston the money to start it all.

Redrow's own listings show the development is down to its last house type - a four-bedroom semi from £500,000 - alongside one and two-bedroom apartments in Balston House and York House, from £200,000. The developer is running a first-time buyer event at the site this weekend, offering a 5% deposit contribution on the final one and two-bedroom apartments. The Mill sits beside the Medway within walking distance of Maidstone town centre, with Maidstone East station for direct trains to London and Whatman Park - named, like the road, for the family that financed the original mill - next door for walking and cycling.

The Mill sits off James Whatman Way, on the banks of the Medway just north of Maidstone town centre. View full interactive map →

Source: Redrow, Historic England