History of Rochester, Kent longtitudinal timber beams provided the actual bridging structure, with cross planking to form the road surface. They constructed a substantial causeway, wide, over the marshy ground on the Strood Side of the river, extending from the river to the present day Angel Corner. In more settled times, the combination of transport links and the fertile Medway valley became the basis of a developed agricultural economy. Compared to the rest of the country there was a marked abundance of Roman villas lining the valley from Rochester down to Maidstone. During the 190s systematic earthen fortifications were established which were replaced in
Borough of Maidstone earliest in the county – that to Rochester and Chatham – was opened in 1728. In modern times, two motorways – the M2 and the M20 – pass to the far north of the borough and just north of the town centre of Maidstone respectively. The earliest line through Kent was built by the South Eastern Railway. It was not, however, built to pass through Maidstone: instead, a station was built at Paddock Wood railway station, then named "Maidstone Road", some six miles away. It was only in the period between 1844 (when that main line was connected by a