Larkfield is a village in Kent, 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 ...

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 ...

. Of the two parts of the parish, Larkfield is much more built-up, lying on and north of the main

A20 road A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient G ...

. The

M20 motorway The M20 is a Controlled-access highway, motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 road (England), A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25 motorway, M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports a ...

also passes through, with junction 4 residing at the centre of

Leybourne Leybourne is a village and civil parish in Kent, England situated off Junction 4 of the M20 motorway, M20 Motorway. Leybourne is adjacent to New Hythe, East Malling and Larkfield, Larkfield and West Malling. As of 2020, Leybourne Parish had a po ...

on the A228. The name of Larkfield is literal and descriptive – it refers to the large numbers of

skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially ...

s found in the fields; its first recorded instance is in

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 ...

as ''Lavrochesfel''.

History

Larkfield was once a

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

in Kent. Larkfield has expanded rapidly since the M20 motorway was constructed in the 1970s and it continues to grow, with new housing developments being built. These are The Lakes in Leybourne, on disused gravel pits that were turned into man-made lakes. The decision to build on this area was unpopular with some residents, but the remaining lakes were turned into

Leybourne Lakes Country Park Leybourne Lakes Country Park is near Snodland, in Kent, England. The park, which opened in 2004, was created from disused gravel pits that have been flooded and Landscaping, landscaped to make fishing and wildlife lakes. History In the 1930s a r ...

to offset the impact of the new housing. The village of

New Hythe New Hythe is a village in mid-Kent, England on the banks of the River Medway approximately northwest of the county town of Maidstone. It derives its name from the Old English word Hythe, meaning haven or landing place. It is split between the ...

is largely industrial and adjoins Larkfield. In 1961 Malling Rural District Council developed the "Tree"(shared with the Parish of Ditton) and "Bird" estates, where the majority of the roads are named after species of trees and birds respectively. Similarly in Lunsford Park just north of the M20, the roads are named after famous poets. Larkfield has been of some historical interest throughout recent times, with a number of archeological discoveries in the area. Close to the main crossroads on the A20, Larkfield Priory Hotel, built in 1890, is allegedly haunted.

Amenities

The parish church at Larkfield is Trinity and there is also a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

church in Larkfield. A large

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

supermarket sits to the North end of the parish, near the country park. There is also another supermarket, built originally as part of the

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

chain, which stands on the corner of New Hythe Lane and the London road. Following the demise of Safeway in 2004, it changed several times in quick succession, becoming first a

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

for a short time, as part of that company's purchase of the bulk of the Safeway estate, before being sold to

Somerfield Somerfield ( ) was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The business started life in the 19th century as grocers J. H. Mills, and after a series of buyouts and mergers, the company became known as Gatew ...

, and in 2009, re-opening, fully refurbished, once again as a Morrison's.

KM Group KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations, TV and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquire ...

head office based in Larkfield has now moved to Rochester. Larkfield has three schools on a campus site: Brookfield Infants, Brookfield Juniors, and Lunsford Primary. There is a small local shopping area at Martin Square, which also provides a library, a retirement home and a modern Health Centre, Thornhills Medical Practice. The main secondary school for the area is The Malling School in East Malling. Larkfield Leisure Centre was built in the 1980s on New Hythe Lane.Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council - Finance Innovation and Property Advisory Board - 5 June 2019 - Report of the Management Team

Transport

Larkfield is served by

and

Aylesford Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, northwest of Maidstone. Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. Two pubs, a villa ...

stations, with services to Maidstone, Paddock Wood and the Medway towns.

Nearest settlements

References

{{reflist Villages in Kent Tonbridge and Malling