Larkfield, Kent

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Larkfield
The Wealden Hall Restaurant, London Road, Larkfield, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 1314805.jpg
The Wealden Hall pub in Larkfield
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Larkfield
Location within Kent
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
List of places
UK
England
Kent
51°17′58″N0°26′35″E / 51.299497°N 0.44292510°E / 51.299497; 0.44292510 Coordinates: 51°17′58″N0°26′35″E / 51.299497°N 0.44292510°E / 51.299497; 0.44292510

Larkfield is a village in Kent, part of the civil parish of East Malling and Larkfield in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling. Of the two parts of the parish, Larkfield is much more built-up, lying on and north of the main A20 road. The M20 motorway also passes through, with junction 4 residing at the centre of Leybourne on the A228.

Contents

The name of Larkfield is literal and descriptive – it refers to the large numbers of skylarks found in the fields[ citation needed ]; its first recorded instance is in Domesday Book as Lavrochesfel.

History

Larkfield was once a hundred in Kent. [1]

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 to offset the impact of the new housing. The village of New Hythe 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 church in Larkfield.

A large Tesco 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 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 for a short time, as part of that company's purchase of the bulk of the Safeway estate, before being sold to Somerfield, and in 2009, re-opening, fully refurbished, once again as a Morrison's.

KM Group 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, [2] 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. [3]

Transport

Larkfield is served by New Hythe and Aylesford stations, with services to Maidstone, Paddock Wood and the Medway towns.

Nearest settlements

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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 5478.

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The A228 road is an important transport artery in Kent, England. It begins at the Isle of Grain and runs in a south-westerly direction to connect eventually with the A21 trunk road at Pembury. It serves existing communities and new and proposed housing developments and commercial enterprises. The most influential force on the recent upgrading of the road has been the development of Kings Hill near West Malling.

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Blue Bell Hill (village) Human settlement in England

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New Hythe Village in England

New Hythe is a village in mid-Kent, England on the banks of the River Medway approximately 5 mi (8.0 km) northwest of the county town of Maidstone. It derives its name from the Old English word Hythe, meaning haven or landing place. It is in the parish of East Malling and Larkfield.

Haysden Country Park

Haysden Country Park is a 64-hectare (160-acre) country park and Local Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Tonbridge in Kent. It is owned by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, the Highways Agency, Network Rail and the Environment Agency, and managed by the council.

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 landscaped to make fishing and wildlife lakes.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

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Elections to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council were held on 5 May 2011. The whole borough council were up for election. Parish council elections and the national Alternative Vote referendum were held on the same day.

An election was held on 2 May 2019 to elect all 54 members of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Parish council elections were held on the same day.

References

  1. ↑ Vision of Britain https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20975
  2. ↑ Medway Gap Character Area, https://www.tmbc.gov.uk/downloads/file/1253/medway-gap-character-area-spd-adopted-part-3
  3. ↑ Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council - Finance Innovation and Property Advisory Board - 5 June 2019 - Report of the Management Team
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