Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, southeast of

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

. It lies close to the border with

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. The town was a spa in the Restoration and a fashionable resort in the mid-1700s under Beau Nash when the Pantiles, and its chalybeate spring, attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity as a spa town waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town still derives much of its income from tourism. The prefix "

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

" was granted to it in 1909 by King Edward VII; it is one of only three towns in England with the title. The town had a population of 59,947 in 2016, and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and in the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells.

History

Iron Age

Evidence suggests that

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

people farmed the fields and mined the iron-rich rocks in the Tunbridge Wells area, and excavations in 1940 and 1957–61 by James Money at High Rocks uncovered the remains of a defensive

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

. It is thought that the site was occupied into the era of

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...

, and the area continued to be part of the

Wealden iron industry The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the wrought iron, bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until abou ...

until its demise in the late eighteenth century. An iron forge remains in the grounds of Bayham Abbey, in use until 1575 and documented until 1714. Church of king charles the martyr

Pre-modern era

The area which is now Tunbridge Wells was part of the parish of Speldhurst for hundreds of years. The origin of the town today came in the seventeenth century. In 1606 Dudley North, 3rd Baron North, a courtier to King James VI and I who was staying at a hunting lodge in Eridge in the hope that the country air might improve his ailing constitution, discovered a chalybeate spring. He drank from the spring and, when his health improved, he became convinced that it had healing properties. He persuaded his rich friends in London to try it, and by the time Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I, visited in 1630 it had established itself as a spa retreat. By 1636 it had become so popular that two houses were built next to the spring to cater for the visitors, one for the ladies and one for the gentlemen, and in 1664 Lord Muskerry, Lord of the Manor, enclosed it with a triangular stone wall, and built a hall "to shelter the dippers in wet weather." Until 1676 little permanent building took place—visitors were obliged either to camp on the downs or to find lodgings at Southborough—, but at this time houses and shops were erected on the walks, and every "convenient situation near the springs" was built upon. Also in 1676 a subscription for a "

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

of ease" was opened, and in 1684 the Church of King Charles the Martyr was duly built and the town began to develop around it. In 1787 the antiquarian Edward Hasted described the new town as consisting of four small districts, "named after the hills on which they stand, Mount Ephraim, Mount Pleasant and Mount Sion; the other is called the Wells..." In the 1680s there was a building-boom in the town: carefully planned shops were built beside the Pantiles promenade (then known as the Walks), and the Mount Sion road, on which lodging house keepers were to build, was laid out in small plots. Tradesmen in the town dealt in the luxury goods demanded by their patrons, which would certainly have included Tunbridge ware, a kind of decoratively inlaid woodwork.

"They have made the wells very commodious by the many good building all about it and around which are lodgings for the company that drink the waters. All the people buy their own provisions at the market, which is just by the wells and is furnished with great plenty of all sorts of fish and fowl. The walk which is between high trees on the market side which are shops full of all sorts of toys, silver, china, milliners and all sorts of curious wooden ware besides which there are two large coffee houses for tea, chocolate etc. and two rooms for the lottery and hazard board (i.e. for gambling)."— Celia Fiennes, 1697

Following Richard Russell's 1750 treatise advocating sea water as a treatment for diseases of the glands, fashions in leisure changed and sea bathing became more popular than visiting the spas, which resulted in fewer visitors coming to the town. Nevertheless, the advent of turnpike roads gave Tunbridge Wells better communications—on weekdays a public coach made nine return journeys between Tunbridge Wells and London, and postal services operated every morning except Monday and every evening except Saturday. During the eighteenth century the growth of the town continued, as did its patronage by the wealthy leisured classes—it received celebrity cachet from visits by figures such as Caius Gabriel Cibber,

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, David Garrick, Samuel Richardson and the successful bookseller Andrew Millar and his wife—and in 1735 Beau Nash appointed himself as master of ceremonies for all the entertainments that Tunbridge Wells had to offer. He remained in this position until his death in 1762, and under his patronage the town reached the height of its popularity as a fashionable resort. CalverleyCrescent

Nineteenth and twentieth centuries

By the early nineteenth century Tunbridge Wells experienced growth as a place for the well-to-do to visit and make their homes. It became a fashionable resort town again following visits by the Duchess of Kent,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and Prince Albert, and benefited from a new estate on Mount Pleasant and the building of the Trinity church in 1827, and improvements made to the town and the provision of facilities such as gas lighting and a police service meant that by 1837 the town population had swelled to 9,100. In 1842 an omnibus service was set up that ran from Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells, enabling visitors to arrive from London within two hours, and in 1845 the town was linked to the railway network via a branch from South Eastern Railway's London-Hastings Hastings Line at

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

. During this time Decimus Burton developed John Ward's Calverley Park estate. In 1889 the town was awarded the status of a Borough, and it entered the 20th century in a prosperous state. 1902 saw the opening of an Opera House, and in 1909 the town received its "Royal" prefix. Due to its position in South East England, during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Tunbridge Wells was made a headquarters for the army, and its hospitals were used to treat soldiers who had been sent home with a " blighty wound"; the town also received 150 Belgian refugees. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

affected Tunbridge Wells in a different way—it became so swollen with refugees from London that accommodation was severely strained. Over 3,800 buildings were damaged by bombing, but only 15 people lost their lives. Following the war, large-scale housing estates were built at Sherwood and Ramslye to accommodate population growth.

Toponymy

Edward Hasted asserted that although the wells were originally named the "Queen's-Wells", they soon took on the name of Tunbridge Wells due to their proximity to the town of

(known as "Tunbridge" until 1870):

In compliment to ueen Henrietta Maria'sdoctor, Lewis Rowzee, in his treatise on them, calls these springs the Queen's-wells; but this name lasted but a small time, and they were soon afterwards universally known by that of Tunbridge-wells, which names they acquired from the company usually residing at Tunbridge town, when they came into these parts for the benefit of drinking the waters —Edward Hasted, 1797

The prefix "

" dates to 1909, when King Edward VII granted the town its official "Royal" title to celebrate its popularity over the years among members of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

. Tunbridge Wells is one of only three towns in England to have been granted this (the others being

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

and Wootton Bassett). Although "Wells" has a plural form, it refers to the principal source, the chalybeate spring in the Pantiles (where the ''waters'' were taken).

Governance

Tunbridge Wells is the administrative centre for both Tunbridge Wells Borough and the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. The Borough is governed by 48

Councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s, representing 20 wards (eight wards fall within the town of Tunbridge Wells itself). Elections are held for 16 Council seats each year on a rotational basis, with elections to Kent County Council taking place in the fourth year of the cycle. Each councillor serves a four-year term. Councillors meet regularly at Tunbridge Wells Town Hall. Tunbridge Wells local elections show a pattern since 1973 of Conservative party dominance, apart from a two-year period from 1994 to 1996 of no overall control and a two-year period from 1996 to 1998 when the Liberal Democrats held a majority. By 2008, the Conservatives had a large majority with 44 seats compared with the Liberal Democrats' four. The extent of the Conservatives' dominance is further illustrated by the fact that in some wards (e.g. Park) Labour did not even field a candidate in the 2008 council elections. Tunbridge Wells Town Hall - geograph

By 2019, the local political situation had changed. In the 2019 local elections, the Conservative majority was cut to 8, and the council leader David Jukes lost his seat following months of controversy over the council's plan to borrow £90 million in order to build new council offices, a new 1200-seat theatre, and underground car parking in Calverley Grounds. The member of Parliament (MP) for the Tunbridge Wells constituency is Mike Martin of the Liberal Democrats, whose majority at the 2024 general election was 8,687. In September 2019 its MP at the time,

Greg Clark Gregory David Clark (born 28 August 1967) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2016 to 2019. He also was Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2015 t ...

, was one of 21 Conservative Party MPs to have the whip removed, after failing to back the Government, in keeping the option of a

no-deal Brexit A no-deal Brexit (also called a clean-break Brexit) was the potential Brexit, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) without a withdrawal agreement. Under Withdrawal from the European Union, Article 50 o ...

on the negotiating table. The constituency has been mostly Conservative since its inception in 1974 for the 1974 general election; electing a Conservative every election until 2024. Its three previous MPs were Sir Patrick Mayhew (1974–1997), the former Asda chairman Archie Norman (1997–2005) and Clark (2005–2024).

Demography

In 2006 the town was estimated to have a population of approximately 56,500. This had increased to 59,947 by 2016. The wider borough of Tunbridge Wells is home to considerably more people—some 104,000 in 2001, up from around 99,500 in 1991. The population of Tunbridge Wells is predominantly White and British in its ethnic origin and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

in its religious affiliation: 97.5 per cent of residents of the district described themselves as white in the 2001 census, and 75.0% identified themselves as being Christian. The statistics for crime in Tunbridge Wells show that in 2005/6 there were fewer crimes occurring in the area than the national average.

Geography

Tunbridge Wells is on the Kentish border with

, about south of London; the original centre of the settlement lies directly on the Kent/East Sussex border, as recalled by the county boundary flagstone that still lies outside the church of King Charles the Martyr. The town is at the northern edge of the High Weald, a ridge of hard

that runs across southern England from

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

along the borders of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

and

—the town's geology is illustrated by the exposed sandstone outcrops at the Wellington Rocks and High Rocks (a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

due to its exposed gulls), and the quarries at nearby Langton Green from which sandstone was taken to build houses in Tunbridge Wells. The town is sited at the head of a valley that runs south-east to Groombridge; like the

River Teise The River Teise ( , ) is a tributary of the River Medway in Kent, England. Course The source of the Teise is in Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells. From there the river flows eastwards past Bayham Abbey and then through Lamberhurst. downstream ...

, which originates in Tunbridge Wells, the stream in the valley is one of the many tributaries of the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

, which runs through a much larger valley north of the High Weald. The Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation geological unit takes its name from the town. KentGeologyWealdenDomeSimple

Nearby villages have been subsumed into the built-up area of the town, so that now it incorporates High Brooms to the north, Hawkenbury to the south, and Rusthall (whose name resonates with the iron content of the rocks) to the west.

Twinning

Tunbridge Wells is twinned with

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

, Germany. In 1960, through an advertisement in the national press, contact was made between former paratroopers in Wiesbaden and four English ex-servicemen in Tunbridge Wells. Through this contact the friendship that now exists between the two towns sprang up, leading to the signing in 1989 of the official Twinning Charter. Also through this the ''Tunbridge Wells Twinning and Friendship Association'' (TWTFA) was formed.

Climate

Tunbridge Wells, like the rest of Britain, has a temperate maritime climate, lacking in weather extremes. The nearest official weather station is Goudhurst, about east of the town centre. The absolute maximum temperature in Goudhurst stands at , recorded in August 1990, compared to the average annual warmest day maximum of . In total, 11.8 days should attain a temperature of or above. The absolute minimum temperature recorded in Goudhurst was during January 1940, compared to the average annual coldest night minimum of . In total 52.8 nights should report an air frost. Annual rainfall averages in Goudhurst , with over falling on 120.7 days.

Economy

As of 2002 there were around 50,000 people employed in the borough of Tunbridge Wells. The largest sector of the local economy consists of hotels, restaurants, and retail (the centrally located Royal Victoria Place

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

, opened in 1992, covers , which accounts for around 30% of all jobs; the finance and business sector makes up just under a quarter of jobs, as does the public administration, education and health sector. Tunbridge Wells is arguably the most important retail centre between London and

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

. Childrensalon is based in Royal Tunbridge Wells. The largest single employer in the town used to be the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, at the Kent and Sussex and Tunbridge Wells Hospitals, employing around 2500 people; the largest single commercial employer was AXA PPP healthcare, employing around 1,700 in four offices (PPP House, Union House, Phillips House and International House). Tunbridge Wells had a relatively low unemployment rate of around 1.0% in August 2008, compared to a UK national rate of around 5.4%.

Transport

Tunbridge Wells is at the hub of a series of roads, the primary ones being the A26, which runs from

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

to Newhaven; the A264, which runs from Five Oaks to Pembury (via

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

and

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

); and the A267, which runs south from Tunbridge Wells to Hailsham. The A21 passes to the east of the town, following the route of its turnpike ancestor, from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Bus services are operated chiefly by Arriva Kent & Sussex, providing local town and rural services to

, Paddock Wood and Sevenoaks, as well as express services to locations such as

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

and

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

and

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

on the south coast are accessible on services run by Stagecoach in Eastbourne and Brighton & Hove respectively, and Metrobus operates hourly services to

. Tunbridge Wells town historically had three railway stations: two of these are still in use by National Rail services. Tunbridge Wells station is, as its former name of Tunbridge Wells Central suggests, centrally located within the town at the end of the High Street, whilst High Brooms station is situated in High Brooms, to the north of the town. Both stations are located on the double-tracked electrified Hastings Line; services are operated by the Southeastern train operating company. Tunbridge Wells West station was opened by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1866 as the terminus of its competing line to Tunbridge Wells, but closed in 1985 along with that line. The station building—a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

—is now a restaurant, and a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

supermarket occupies the former goods yard. Part of the line was reopened in 1996 by the Tunbridge Wells and Eridge Railway Preservation Society, which now—as the Spa Valley Railway—operates a steam

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

that runs from Tunbridge Wells West to Eridge via High Rocks and Groombridge. The western end of the service was extended from Groombridge to Eridge, on the London-Uckfield line of Southern Railway, on 25 March 2011, serving a platform at Eridge which had been disused for many years. The tunnelled link line between the West and erstwhile Central stations, opened in 1876, remains closed. In 2009 Network Rail installed a 12-car turnback siding just south of Tunbridge Wells station between the Grove Hill and Strawberry Hill tunnels to facilitate a more frequent service and to allow restricted types of London trains starting or terminating at Tunbridge Wells to be operated in 12-car formations. Previously such services were 11-car at most. Average daily passenger flows on trains between Tunbridge Wells and London increased from about 10,000 in 1999 to over 12,500 in 2008, a compound growth rate of about 2.5 per cent per year. Average daily passenger flows between Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks, and between Tunbridge Wells and

, have grown considerably faster, though are still much smaller than the flows between Tunbridge Wells and London.

Education

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the Unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...

is one of fifteen local authorities in the UK that still provides selective education through the

eleven plus exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academ ...

. Tunbridge Wells does not have a university of its own, but the Salomons Campus of

Canterbury Christ Church University Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) is a Public university, public research university located in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teacher training in 1962, it was granted university status in 2005. ...

is located just outside the town (near Southborough) and provides postgraduate programmes.

Sports

Football

Tunbridge Wells'

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, Tunbridge Wells F.C., was formed in 1886 and plays in the Southern Counties East Football League at the Culverden Stadium, and has a history that stretches back to 1886. The team were runners up in the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

FA Vase final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, losing 2–1 to Spennymoor Town.

Motorsport

Tunbridge Wells Motor Club is one of the oldest motor clubs in the UK, being founded in 1911. It is still active in the Tunbridge Wells area promoting grass roots motorsport organising an autotest series and several sprint races throughout the year at circuits such as Lydden Hill and Goodwood. World Endurance Championship team Jota Sport are based in Tunbridge Wells. Recently, they have won the World Cup for Hypercar Teams back-to-back in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Rugby union

Tunbridge Wells RFC plays its home games at St Mark's, and plays London & South East Premier Rugby at RFU level 5.

Rugby League

Weald Warriors RLFC are a Rugby League team based in the town, at St Mark's. The Warriors were founded in 2012 and currently compete in the 4th tier of English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

in the London & South East Men's League.

Cricket

The Nevill Ground hosts

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and

international cricket International cricket matches are played between the teams representing their nations, administrated by the International Cricket Council. The main forms are Test matches, ODI matches and T20I matches. Most games are played as part of "tou ...

, and

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

uses it regularly as one of its outgrounds. It is the home of Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club. Tunbridge Wells came into the cricketing spotlight during the

1983 Cricket World Cup The 1983 Cricket World Cup (officially the Prudential Cup '83) was the third edition of the Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 to 25 June 1983 in England and Wales and was won by India India, officially the Republic o ...

when Kapil Dev of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

made a then world record score of 175 not out against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. Dev and Syed Kirmani had an unbroken partnership of 126 that is the second highest partnership for the 9th wicket in a one-day international. Linden Park Cricket Club, which plays in local leagues, hosts its home matches at the Higher Cricket Ground on Tunbridge Wells Common.

Field hockey

Tunbridge Wells Hockey Club is a

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

club that is based at the Nevill Ground, and competes in the Men's England Hockey League and the South East Hockey League.

Swimming

The RTW Monson Swimming Club competes in

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, diving and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

and is based at the Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre. Its former member Joanne Rout took part in the swimming events at the

1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics () were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the 1988 Summer Olympics, Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officia ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, aged 12, winning two relay gold medals (also setting two new world records) and three individual silver medals; and remains the youngest-ever British Paralympian. A plaque can be found located in the club's trophy display. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council honoured Rout with the award of their Civic Medallion after her return from Seoul in recognition of her efforts and achievements at such a young age.

Running

The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon is an open road race that takes place every February, organised by the Tunbridge Wells Harriers running club. There is a weekly 5-kilometre Park Run that takes place in Dunorlan Park.

Squash

Tunbridge Wells Squash Club on London Road is a traditional squash club with three courts. There are internal leagues for squash and racquetball, and both men's and ladies' teams in the Kent Priory squash league. Squash facilities are also available at the Tunbridge Wells Sports centre on St John's Rd. which also has a club competing in the Kent priory league.

Curling

Fenton's Rink is situated in Dundale Farm near Tunbridge Wells. It is the only dedicated

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

ice rink in England.

Public services

Health services are provided by the West Kent Primary Care Trust. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust runs the new Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury (usually referred to as Pembury Hospital), nearly from the town, which opened in 2011. Tunbridge Wells is policed by Kent Police, and in May 2000 the main police station for the area moved from Tunbridge Wells to a new building in Tonbridge and operations at the Tunbridge Wells station, in Crescent Road, were scaled back so that it now operates as an administrative centre. Fire services are carried out by Kent Fire and Rescue Service, which operates one station in Grove Hill Road that is staffed 24 hours a day by both full-time and retained firefighters. The electricity

distribution network operator A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution netwo ...

is UK Power Networks. The town had its own electricity power station that operated from 1895 to 1968. Water services are managed by Southern Water; the main reservoir in the area is Bewl Water. The Kent and Sussex Crematorium and Cemetery opened in 1873, known initially as the ''Frant Forest Cemetery'' due to its location, laid out over by the then town surveyor. Tunbridge Wells has a library, museum and art gallery in Civic Way.

Cultural references

The town has a reputation for being a bastion of the English

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

and a typical example of " Middle England". This is reflected in the locution " Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells", first used by a fictional writer of letters to national newspapers in the 1950s, to express outrage and defend conservative values. Tunbridge Wells is mentioned in

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

's '' The Valley of Fear'',

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

' '' Christina Alberta's Father'', Thomas Pynchon's '' Gravity's Rainbow'', Philip Reeve's '' Mortal Engines'', E. M. Forster's '' A Room with a View'',

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

's '' The Importance of Being Earnest'',

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

's '' The Old Wives' Tale'', and Zadie Smith's '' White Teeth''. The Inspector Bone mysteries by Susannah Stacey are set in and around Tunbridge Wells. In Fanny Burney's 1796 novel ''Camilla'', several characters make an excursion to Tunbridge Wells, and there are many references to The Pantiles and other local sites.

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...

's epic film '' Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962) closes with Mr. Dryden answering King Feisal: "Me, your Highness? On the whole, I wish I'd stayed in Tunbridge Wells", and in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (1969)Tracy Di Vicenzo says to Bond that she "looks forward to living as Mr and Mrs James Bond of Acacia Avenue, Tunbridge Wells". Tunbridge Wells is referenced in another of David Lean's films, '' A Passage to India'', in which Mrs. Moore ( Peggy Ashcroft) exclaims about the odious wife of the District Collector that "My only consolation is that Mrs. Turton will soon be retired to a villa in Tunbridge Wells." Less well known is

's sending up in his 1925 book ''Christina Alberta's Father'': "Tunbridge Wells is Tunbridge Wells, and there is nothing really like it upon our planet". In '' Spitting Image'', when Britain enters a revolution, Tunbridge Wells declares independence under the slogan of "liberty, equality, gardening". series and episode unknown. In the television

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

series '' Rutland Weekend Television'', there is a musical sketch that tells the tale of three

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

sailors who plan to spend an exciting—"More exciting than a book of

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American writer, journalist and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least ...

's"—and glamour-filled 24 hours in Tunbridge Wells.

Parks and landmarks

The Pantiles The Pantiles is a Georgian architecture , Georgian colonnade in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Formerly known as "The Walks" and the (Royal) "Parade", it leads from the well that gave the town its name. The area, develope ...

and its chalybeate spring have been the landmarks most readily associated with Royal Tunbridge Wells ever since the founding of the town, though the steel

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

Clock at the Fiveways area in the centre of town, designed by local sculptor Jon Mills for the Millennium celebrations, stakes a claim to be a modern landmark. Tunbridge Wells contains green spaces that range from woodland to maintained grounds and parks. The most substantial areas of woodland are the Tunbridge Wells and Rusthall Commons, which comprise of wood and heathland and are close to the centre of the town. Open areas of the common are popular picnic spots, and there is a maintained cricket ground situated next to Wellington Rocks. Calverley park 2

Located in the town centre opposite the railway station, Calverley Grounds is a historic park with ornamental gardens and a

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

(now demolished). The park was part of Mount Pleasant House, which was converted into a hotel in 1837, until 1920, when the borough council purchased it for the town. The bandstand dated from 1924 and was damaged by an incendiary bomb in 1940 and parts of the metalwork were sold for scrap metal. The subsequently repaired bandstand and the adjacent pavilion were intended to form part of a new centre to the park but were never completed. The bandstand was demolished in 2010 although the pavilion still exists as a café. Just inside the entrance to the park coming from the station is a memorial to Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, hero of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

, who lived and died in Tunbridge Wells. Dunorlan Park, at the largest maintained green space in the town, was once a private garden that was part of the millionaire Henry Reed's now demolished mansion, and only passed into public possession in 1941. The gardens were designed by the Victorian gardener James Green, but over the years they became overgrown, making it hard to distinguish the full scope of Marnock's design. In 1996 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to restore the park in line with the original designs, and in 2003/4 Dunorlan underwent a £2.8 million restoration. The

rises in the park, and two dams on it have created a pond and a boating lake. Dunorlan is listed as Grade II on

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

's National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Great Culverden Park is a small, -acre woodland in the Mount Ephraim area behind the site of the old Kent and Sussex Hospital and is the remnant grounds of the previous Great Culverden House designed by Decimus Burton that used to stand on Mount Ephraim. The oldest public park in Tunbridge Wells is Grosvenor Recreation Ground designed by landscape architect Robert Marnock, located close to the town centre on Quarry Road. It was opened in 1889 by Mayor John Stone-Wigg, on the land that was formerly Caverley Waterworks. The lake area with dripping wells remains, but the other lakes, bandstand and open air pool have all gone. There is a bowls club, café, toilets and children's play area, including cycle track. It is adjoined by the Hilbert recreation ground, parts of which have been designated as a local

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

by the Kent High Weald Partnership; these include Roundabout Woods and the adjoining grass areas. The Hilbert Recreation Ground was donated to the town by Cllr Edward Strange in 1931, on the site of the form John Beane's Charity Farm. There are two football pitches, built as part of the King George V playing fields scheme, and a skatepark. The Salomons Museum preserves the home of David Salomons, the first

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

to serve as

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

and the first non-Christian to sit in Parliament. It preserves the bench from which Salomons rose to speak as the first Jewish MP ever to speak in Parliament. * Friezland Wood

The arts

The town's largest theatre is the Assembly Hall in Crescent Road, which has a capacity of 1020. Nearby, in Church Road, is the Trinity Arts Centre which is a converted church. The Forum is a 250-capacity live music venue in the town, run by Jason Dormon, where many bands have played their early concerts on their way to success. Unfest is an annual free music festival which takes place in May. Tunbridge Wells held its first TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells on 6 June 2015.

Local media

Tunbridge Wells has one local commercial radio station, KMFM West Kent. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

has its regional centre in the town at the Great Hall on Mount Pleasant Road. It is the base of BBC Radio Kent and for BBC South East regional programmes, the complex contains studios and offices.

Notable people

References

External links

* *
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
{{Authority control Towns in Kent Market towns in Kent Tunbridge Wells Populated places established in 1606 Spa towns in England 1606 establishments in England Unparished areas in Kent