[3] The ground is located around 0.8 miles (1.3 km) south-east of the centre of Maidstone on the western fringe of Mote Park.

[4] Originally the ground was separated from the urban area of Maidstone by farmland, but 20th century housing has been built up to the western edges of the site.

[5] The ground was established in the mid-19th century inside Mote Park, at the time a 558 acres (226 ha) country estate to the west of Maidstone.

[8] The park was sold to Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted in 1895 and the ground developed extensively under his ownership to allow it to be used regularly for county cricket.

[13] The first match given retrospective first-class cricket status took place in 1859, Kent playing MCC.

Other touring sides to have played at the ground include the Australians in 1890, 1912 and 1951 South Africans, 1954 Canadians and the New Zealanders in 1965 and 1969.

[13] Redevelopment of the facilities at the ground had been approved during 2005 as part of a larger scheme to increase the profile of cricket in the county town.

Kent have expressed a wish to return to the ground at some point, although as of April 2016 the quality of the wicket and the pavilion were still seen as issues that needed to be addressed.

[17][18][19][20] A total of 218 first-class matches were held on the ground between 1859 and 2005, all of them featuring Kent as the home side.

The Kent Cricket Board played another five List A matches on the ground in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy between 1999 and 2002.