LINTON, a village and a parish in Maidstone district, Kent. The village stands on the S declivity of a hill, 4 miles S of Maidstone r. station; commands delightful views over a picturesque and richly wooded country; and has a post office under Staplehurst.—The parish contains also Maidstone workhouse; which, at the census of 1861, had 260 inmates. Acres, 1,383. Real property, £4,385. Pop. in 1851,1,082; in 1861,873. Houses, 125. The decrease of pop. was caused by the removal of a number of inmates of the workhouse to newly-erected workhouse schools in East Farleigh. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to the Duke of Leeds. Linton Park, with much of the land, belonged to the Manns; and passed, by marriage, to Earl Cornwallis. The mansion was described by Horace Walpole as "standing like the citadel of Kent; ''commands magnificent and very extensive views over the Weald; is a splendid white stuccoed edifice, with tetrastyle Corinthian portico; has a well-wooded park of about 500 acres; and is now the seat of Viscount Holmesdale. The parish is noted for prime fruit and hops. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £260.* Patron, Lady Holmesdale. The church was originally Norman; had a S aisle and a private chapel added to it in the time of Edward III.; underwent restoration and considerable enlargement in 1859-60; exhibits, in the new portions, chiefly the later English style; comprises nave, aisles, chancel, and N and S chapels, with a magnificent tower of Kentish rag, surmounted by a spire of Bath stone; contains a carved oak pulpit and reading-desk, and a rich carved oak screen; and was the burial-place of Sir Horace Mann, whose body was brought to it for interment from Florence. The N chapel has been so entirely restored as to harmonize with the rest of the church; and it contains monuments to the Mayne, the Mann, and the Cornwallis families, including a very fine one, in white marble, by Bayley, to Viscount Brome, son of the late Earl Cornwallis. There are free schools, supported by Viscount Holmesdale, and alms houses for 8 aged persons.

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