Church Of St James

The Church of St James is a Grade I listed building located in East Malling and Larkfield. It dates back to the 12th century, with some elements from the 14th century, and was rebuilt around 1450 to 1500. The church is constructed from ragstone, incorporating some early materials, tiles, and tufa that have been reused in the chancel.

The structure features a west tower, a nave with aisles, and a chancel. The tower consists of three stages with angle buttresses that are not original. It has an embattled design with single pointed-arched belfry openings and a string course below the belfry stage. A clock is positioned above the tall west window. There are Norman windows on the north and south sides, which are blocked. The nave and chancel have a clerestory, and the transeptal chapels were originally extended into aisles, featuring early 14th-century windows on the north side, which are the original chancel windows. The east window of the chancel was added in the 19th or 20th century.

Inside, the church has three bay aisle arcades that demonstrate the lengthening of the transeptal chapels into aisles, maintaining a rhythm with the east arches followed by a short wall and a pair of west arches. The piers are octagonal, and the arches are double-chamfered. Notable fittings include early 17th-century sanctuary panelling and an early 16th-century font area with doors. The font has a tall panelled base topped with a conical cap featuring pierced tracery and a pierced cresting depicting birds attacking fruit.

The church also contains stained glass from the early 14th century in the north aisle and several monuments, including a brass for Thomas Selby, who died in 1479, and another for Richard Adams, who died in 1522. There is an alabaster hanging monument for Richard Mannyng, who died in 1611, featuring a figure with a hand on a skull, as well as tablets for Thomas Twisden (died 1683), Jane Sympson (died 1690), Jane Twisden (died around 1779), and Sir John Twisden (died 1810), the latter featuring a monument with a figure of a woman leaning on an urn, created by Thomas Assiter of Maidstone.