East Malling is a village in the borough of

Tonbridge and Malling Tonbridge and Malling is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Kent, England. The council is based at Kings Hill. The borough also includes the towns of Tonbridge an ...

, Kent, in the part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

East Malling and Larkfield East Malling is a civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin ...

lying south of the A20 road. In 2019 the ward had an estimated population of 5,478.

History

The earliest recorded reference to East Malling is "in a Charter of King

Edmund I Edmund I or Eadmund I (920/921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death in 946. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. Af ...

(reigned 939 – 946 AD) which refers to ‘East Mealing’, describing a gallows." East Malling was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Mellingete''. Farming was common in the area until the 1960s especially of hops and fruit orchards, and some of this activity remains today including the

East Malling Research Station NIAB EMR is a horticultural and agricultural research institute at East Malling, Kent in England, with a specialism in fruit and clonally propagated crop production. In 2016, the institute became part of the NIAB Group. History In 1913, ...

. After World War II, Malling Rural District Council developed the Step Stile and Clare Park housing estates.

Amenities

The ragstone church is dedicated to St

James the Great James the Great ( Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles t ...

, and forms part of a Conservation Area on the High Street. It boasts of a clerestoried

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

dating from the 14th century. Within the church lies Sir Thomas Twisden, a high court judge who presided at the trials of the regicides of Charles I. St James is the primary school, and the main secondary school for the area is The Malling School.

Transport

There is a railway station at

East Malling East Malling is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling, Kent, in the part of the civil parish of East Malling and Larkfield lying south of the A20 road. In 2019 the ward had an estimated population of 5,478. History The earliest ...

with services to Maidstone, Ashford & London.

Media

Much of the location filming for the 1960s

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

comedy programme "Mr Pastry" took place in the countryside around East Malling.

Richard Hearne Richard Lewis Hearne (30 January 1908 – 23 August 1979) was an English actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best remembered for his stage and television character Mr Pastry. Career Hearne was born in Norwich, Norfolk, in 1908, the s ...

who starred had lived in a neighbouring village, St Mary Platt, and knew the area well.

Notable people

Paxton Whitehead Francis Edward Paxton Whitehead (17 October 1937 – 16 June 2023) was an English actor and theatre director. He was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Pellinore in the 1980 revival of '' Camelot''. Whiteh ...

(1937–2023), actor and theatre director, born in East Malling *

Sir Thomas Twisden, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Twisden, 1st Baronet (2 January 1602 – 2 January 1683) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England in two periods between 1646 and 1660. He was a High Court judge who presided at the trial of the r ...

(1602–1683), owner of Bradbourne House from 1656.

Climate

Nearest settlements

References

External links

East Malling and Larkfield Parish CouncilEast Malling churchVillage website
* {{Authority control Villages in Kent Tonbridge and Malling