Paddock Wood
From Free net encyclopedia
Template:Infobox England place with map Paddock Wood is a small town in Kent, England, about eight miles SW of Maidstone. It is the centre for hop growing in Kent. The town featured in Charles Dickens' novel Dombey and Son.
A railway station was opened here on 31 May 1842, on the South Eastern Railway main line from London via Redhill to Dover: as the nearest spot to that town it was named 'Maidstone Road'. When the Maidstone branch from Paddock Wood was opened on 25 September 1844, it took the name of a local wood. Between 1892 and 1961 the branch to Hawkhurst also left from here.
There is the huge Paddock Wood Distribution Centre (TRANSFESA) located to the north of the village. It houses storage and transfer facilities for freight vehicles. In early July 2005 a large fire destroyed a warehouse in the facility.