In 850, Æthelwulf, King of Wessex, granted Ealhhere, ealdorman of Kent, a large estate of forty hides at Lenham.

[4][5] Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Lenham market dates back to 1088, when the village was an important crossroad settlement.

[6] Technically the fact that Lenham is allowed a market, makes it a town but the community have always desired to maintain its village status.

On 27 August 1950, Lenham, along with the village of Harvel, was one of the signal relay points (between Calais and London) of the first-ever live television pictures from the continent.

In 2020, Co-op staff member, Jo Bate, won Sales Assistant of the Year for her excellent service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A pair of cottages in Lenham had to be demolished to make way for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Maidstone Line).

Also in Lenham is a pharmacy, famous as the discovery site of a sixth century Saxon warrior body and weapons.

Maidstone Borough Council has proposed a garden village called Heathlands in their Local Plan adopted in 2024.