West Malling – the archetypal Kentish town

Kent brings to mind many things depending on who you are talking to. Those who work in London may see it as the perfect commuting spot, allowing them to live close to the country but work in the city. Other more erudite types may think of it as the home of Charles Dickens and the setting of many of his works, or even of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Others may just remember visiting castles there as a child.

Whatever people think of Kent, its almost always positive. It features heavily on daytime TV property programmes, with shots of swelling rivers and towns nestled amongst the hills, and as a result is one of the fastest growing areas for the building of new homes. West Malling and Tonbridge are two of the more attractive propositions, offering all that people think of for a Kent town, along with a good deal more.

West Malling is a historic market town in the Tonbridge and Malling districts of Kent. It is home to many historic buildings including St Leonard’s Tower, a Norman keep that was built by Bishop Gundulf who also built the iconic white tower of the Tower of London and the Cathedral of Rochester. St Leonard’s tower dates back to around 1080.

Despite the tower being easily the oldest thing in the town, the sense of history is everywhere, from the 600 year old Ford House to the Georgian high street, with its wide roads originally used for horse and carriage.

Nowadays, of course, such transport is redundant, but that doesn’t mean West Malling’s transport links gave suffered as a result. With it being just over a kilometre to the M20 it allows for easy and direct access to the M25 and greater London. For non-drivers, however, West Malling has a train station on the main line between London Victoria and Ashford International, allowing residents easy access to both the capital and the Eurotunnel.

West Malling then, has distilled everything that people associate with Kent into one small, historic town.