LOOSE, a village, a parish, and a sub-district in Maidstone district, Kent. The village stands on a rivulet of its own name, 2½ miles S of Maidstone r. station; is a picturesque place, surrounded by hop and fruit gardens; includes a sort of Suburb called Well-street; and has a post office under Staplehurst. The parish comprises 960 acres. Real property, £6,759. Pop., 1,573. Houses, 337. The Loose rivulet is sluggish, drives several paper and corn mills, flows about ½ a mile underground, and goes to the Medway. There are a brewery and several rag-stone quarries. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £488. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church consists of nave, chancel, and a recent aisle; has a tower and spire; and was recently repaired. A tract which had a pop. of 43 in 1861 is included in the chapelry of Tovil. There are a national school, and charities £3.—The sub-district contains seven parishes. Acres, 7,916. Pop., 5,867. Houses, 1,207.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))