In about 1791, the artist J. M. W. Turner painted a watercolour of 'St Mary's Abbey and an ornamental waterfall' on Swan St, that remains in place today.

West Malling station is a stop on the Kent Downs line, situated on the outskirts of the town.

After closure as an operational airfield in 1967, several commercial air-based activities moved onto the site and a number of popular airshows took place; the last was in 1987.

The Tunbridge Wells branch was in Crescent Road and was an auxiliary hospital during the First World War, with beds for civilians and soldiers.

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East and ITV Meridian.

The county-wide stations BBC Radio Kent, Heart and Gold can also be received in the town.

The setting for the cricket match between All Muggleton and Dingley Dell, in Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers, is reputed to be based on an amalgamation of the grounds at West Malling and Maidstone.

Here he would have encountered an annual cricket match against a team formed of men with the name Muggleton, from the next village of Wilbaston.

[18] In 1967, The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour was filmed around West Malling, including in the High Street and at the airfield.