The Domesday entry for East and West Peckham reads:- Part of the manor of East Farleigh lay within what is now East Peckham. There is a persistent myth that the village was originally around the far northern border with Mereworth. Sheet 80 of the First Edition One-Inch Ordnance Survey map published on 1 January 1819 shows the village as being two miles north east as St Michael's church stands on high ground there, now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust and open daily. In the mid-nineteenth century the new parish church of the Holy Trinity was built in what had for centuries been, and likely since the first multi-family settlement arose, the parish population centre. The architects were Whichcord and Walker of Maidstone, and the foundation stone was laid on 24 October 1840. The River Bourne joins the Medway in the south of the parish and powered a watermill, Little Mill. Another watermill on the River Medway stood at Branbridges. Large, populated parts used to flood with unusual frequency among parishes along the Medway. The East Peckham Flood Relief partnership was formed in 2003. A dam since 2005 exists on the Coult Stream at Bullen Farm. It is long and high and has the capacity to hold of floodwater. The scheme cost just over £1 million. In 2012, a local amateur theatre group, The Russett Players, was formed in the village.
Settlement and amenities
East Peckham developed from nine hamlets. These straddle the River Medway. It was economically focussed on hop growing and other agriculture, in which sector plant growing remains economically important, including two garden centres. Beltring includes The Hop Farm Country Park, including outdoor cinema, escape room and two restaurants and the world's largest collection of Oast Houses. Hale Street is another residential area to the east of the main village. Pound Road has most of the village's amenities including the primary school, Co-op convenience store, local shops and the Merry Boys pub.
On 28 January 1896 Walter Arnold, of the Arnold company of East Peckham, was summonsed for travelling at in a motorised vehicle, thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit for towns of. He had been caught by a policeman who had given chase on a bicycle. He was fined 1 shilling plus costs, the first speeding fine in England, thus he achieved the sobriquetthe first person to be convicted of speeding in the UK.
