East Malling and Larkfield

East Malling and Larkfield is a civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is about 2.4 miles southeast of West Malling, 5.5 miles northwest of Maidstone, and 11.4 miles  south-southwest of Rochester. In 1962, the parish was formed from two smaller ancient ecclesiastical parishes, East Malling and Larkfield. Covering 4.16 square miles, the parish is in the heart of the hop fields and fruit-growing region, and has an expanding residential area. The distinct hamlet of East Malling Heath is in the parish. There are two parish churches in the parish. The church at East Malling is dedicated to St James the Great; that at Larkfield to Holy Trinity. There is also a Methodist church in Larkfield.

Of the two parts of the parish, Larkfield is much more built-up, lying on the main A20 road, and is part of greater Maidstone. The M20 motorway also passes through, with junction 4 residing at the centre of Leybourne on the A228. East Malling has a much more village feelabout it. As well as the roads, East Malling railway station serves the village.

The village 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 a country park and nature reserve to offset the impact of the new housing.

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.

The "Tree"(shared with the Parish of Ditton) and "Bird" estates are part of a popular residential area in Larkfield. Tonbridge and Malling borough council applied to purchase this area of land in 1947, as part of the Medway Gap development plan. In 1961 planning permission was given to build what is now two estates, where the majority of the roads are named after species of trees and birds. There is also another estate, known as the "Poets" just to the North of the M20 where all the roads are named after famous poets.