Posted on Apr 17, 2018
The squat, square, stone tower sits on a rise watching over the southern approach to the Village. If we were in the Borders it might be the remnants of a castle keep. In Cornwall it could be the ruined engine house of a tin mine. But we’re in Kent and this is the mysterious St Leonard’s Tower. Since we moved to West Malling, near Maidstone, from London over 28 years ago, the tower has been our favourite spot to walk. Sitting on the steps below the big oak door, looking over the fields is a great place to unwind and put the world to rights. What makes the place even more special is that no one is quite sure who built the tower and why. One fact seems clear, the tower takes its name from a chapel dedicated to St Leonard that stood nearby. The most popular theory is that the tower was once part of a castle, built between 1077 and 1108 by Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester. This would give our humble tower very grand connections as Gundulf, a Norman monk who came to England alter the Conquest, built several castles, including Rochester, Colchester and the White Tower of the Tower of London. He also founded St Mary’s Abbey in the centre of West Malling, now occupied by a community of Anglican Benedictine nuns offering hospitality to those seeking a peaceful retreat from the pressures of the World. In A Short History of West Malling (1951) Anthony Cronk says: “When we see how St Leonard’s Tower still dominates the road into West Malling, it is easy to understand that it was built to defend Gundulf’s lands and abbey from the marauding’s of the wild Saxons from the Weald.” An alternative theory says the tower’s builder was Bishop Odo of Bayeux, half-brother of William the Conqueror and thought to have commissioned the famous tapestry. The sides of St Leonard’s Tower are around 33ft and it stands about twice as high, pretty much its original height. The 6ft-thick walls are built of coursed rubble (roughly shaped stones on level beds) but with dressed stones quoins. The tower is in the care of English Heritage, which says it originally had a basement and two floors. Joist holes showing the level of the wooden floor of the first-floor chamber can still be seen. A spiral staircase in the north-west turret connected the floors. The turret has narrow openings through which arrows could be fired. The original entrance, in the east face, was reached by a wooden staircase. This was later blocked, and a new round-headed archway formed on the west side at ground level. The tower is lit by round-headed windows. Below the tower is a small field and a huge wall on a medieval base, runs down to St Leonards Street. The wall may have formed part of an enclosure attached...
Read More »
Posted on Mar 29, 2018
The Malling Society Constitution has been updated and agreed by the Executive Committee and adopted by the General Membership on the 15th May 2018. The Malling Society Constitution is available for all members to download here The Malling Society Constitution
Read More »
Posted on Mar 26, 2018
PORTAM CUSTODIMUS (We Guard the Gate) Airport type Military Owner Ministry of Defence Operator Royal Air Force Location West Malling Kent Built 1917 In use 1917–1918 and 1930-1969 Elevation AMSL 308 ft / 94 m Coordinates 51°16′16″N 000°24′09″E Royal Air Force West Malling or RAF West Malling was a former Royal Air Force station located 1.6 miles (2.6 km) south of West Malling, Kent and 5.2 miles (8.4 km) west of Maidstone, Kent, England. Originally used as a landing area during the First World War, the site opened as a private landing ground and in 1930, then known as Kinghill, home to the Maidstone School of Flying, before being renamed West Malling Airfield, and, in 1932, Maidstone Airport. During the 1930s many airshows and displays were held by aviators such as Amy Johnson and Alan Cobham, flying from a grass runway. As war approached, the airfield was taken over by the military, to become RAF West Malling in 1940, serving in the front line against the Luftwaffe. The station saw further service after the war, first with some of the RAFs first jet squadrons, and later as a US Naval Air Station. After closure as an operational air station in 1969, West Malling acquired a more civilian guise, hosting several major Great Warbirds Air Displays during the 70s and 80s, until eventually closing completely as an airfield. The site is now developing into a new village community of mixed residential, commercial, and civic amenities, but still retains several features of its military aviation heritage. First World War The airfield was as a landing area during the First World War. Second World War RAF West Malling was not fully operational during the Battle of Britain, suffering from several damaging bombing raids, but did play an active part in the later stages of the air campaign, becoming a premier night-fighter base. Maidstone Airport was taken over in the prelude to the Second World War, and the RAF station was formed in June 1940, now with a concrete runway. Designated as one of two RAF Fighter Command stations assigned to C Sector, and designated as an advanced aerodrome for RAF Kenley and RAF Biggin Hill. The first aircraft arrived on 8 June 1940. These were Lysanders of No. 26 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, used for photo-reconnaissance sorties over occupied Europe. No. 51 Wing arrived at the same time, and the airfield was provided with anti-aircraft and searchlight batteries for airfield defence. Twitch Inn Douces Manor was the Headquarters and Mess for officers flying from RAF West Malling (now Kings Hill). The cellar bar was frequented by many brave young fighter pilots and, typical of the dry sense of humour of the time, became colloquially known as the ‘Twitch Inn’, due to the nervous affliction that affected many pilots. This noticeable twitch that many displayed was a result of the immense stress, strain and...
Read More »
Posted on Mar 26, 2018
Download our Spring Newsletter here
Read More »
Posted on Feb 23, 2018
Travelling north out of town can be seen a piece of modern sculpture, it depicts the figure of the running woman which represents the present moment in time, caught for an instant in its ceaseless forward movement. The rich tapestry of West Malling’s past is shown on the back of the cloak that billows out behind her. The future is still to happen, the dove has yet to take flight and when it does, it will carry with it all our “hopes and prayers for ourselves”, our community and our world. Commissioned and paid for by Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council in June 2000, in consultation with West Malling Parish Council and the Malling Society, it was unveiled on Saturday 7 July 2001. The scenes depicted on the eight panels on the back of the cloak represent the following: 1. Today, West Malling is a thriving community with a rich tradition of community art. The sculpture of Hope provides another focal point within the town where people can meet. 2. West Malling Airfield and its Mosquito squadrons featured significantly in the Second World War. 3. West Malling was and to a great extent still is, the centre of a rich agricultural tradition of hop gardens and orchards. 4. In 1704 the first ever recorded game of cricket was played in West Malling. 5. For many hundreds of years, the town was the site of a thriving market under a charter from the Abbess and the market continued even after the dissolution of the Abbey by Henry VIII. 6. Wyatt’s rebellion against Mary Tudor was crushed by troops loyal to the Queen, stationed at West Malling. Wyatt was then executed in 1554. 7. Scenes from the time of the Black Death (1348-49), when West Malling was the site of mass graves or plague pits, where the dead from a wide area of North West Kent were buried. Of the inhabitants of the whole town and the Abbey only 15 remained alive. 8. The founding of the community of Benedictine nuns by Bishop Gundulph in 1090. A centre of prayer for 5 centuries before the dissolution of the monasteries, the community was re-established at the start of the Sarah Cunnington was born in Kent in 1953 and studied at St Martin’s School of Art from 1970-74. She now lives with her husband in France, combining her work as a painter and sculptor with teaching children. The statue of ‘Hope’ for West Malling was her first large scale commission and much of her inspiration for the piece was based on knowing and loving the village since her childhood. Her work has been exhibited with the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour at the Mall Galleries and with the Society of Women Artists at the Westminster Galleries...
Read More »
