Town in Kent, England
Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells began with a rusty-tasting spring, grew into a royal resort, and ended up as Britain's byword for writing angry letters.
Key information
- County
- Kent
- Nation
- England
- Known for
- The Pantiles, its chalybeate spring, Georgian and Victorian villas, and 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells'
- Famous people
- Dudley North, Beau Nash, Decimus Burton, Queen Henrietta Maria
- Football clubs
- Tunbridge Wells FC
About Tunbridge Wells
The town that started with a rusty puddle
Before 1606 there was no Tunbridge Wells, just woodland and heath on the Kent and Sussex border. Then Dudley, Lord North, a courtier in poor health, rode through and noticed an iron-stained spring. He drank the water and felt better, or said he did. That chalybeate spring, rich in iron, became the town's whole reason for existing. Within a few decades, the fashionable were pitching tents beside it. In 1630 Queen Henrietta Maria camped on the Common for weeks to recover after giving birth to the future Charles II. A royal seal of approval like that was worth more than any doctor's note.
Why the Pantiles aren't what you think
The Pantiles is the town's showpiece: a colonnaded walk beneath trees, lined with shops, cafés and an old bandstand. It takes its name from the square clay tiles laid on the ground around 1700, after Princess Anne helped pay for the paving, because visitors kept getting muddy. This was the social heart of Georgian Tunbridge Wells. People came to drink the water, gossip, gamble and be seen. Women known as dippers served the spring water, and you can still see the spring and the Bath House of 1804 there. Richard 'Beau' Nash, the celebrity Master of Ceremonies of Bath, came over in the 1730s to run the social season here too. The town had that kind of pull.
From spa to Royal
As the spa boomed, so did the housing. Decimus Burton, later famous for his work in London, laid out the elegant Calverley Park estate from the 1820s, with stately villas set among lawns and trees. Princess Victoria visited as a girl in 1834. Spa fashions faded, but the town simply reinvented itself as a smart residential place, and a commuter favourite once the railway arrived. In 1909 Edward VII added 'Royal' to the name, which is why you will see it on road signs, station boards and the odd cheeky bottle of local cider. The Church of King Charles the Martyr, begun in 1678, is the oldest church in the town centre.
Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
Britain's most famous fictional letter-writer signs off as 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells'. He fires off furious notes to newspapers about modern manners, television or whatever else has ruined his morning. No real person is behind it. It's a joke about a certain kind of outraged middle-class respectability, and the town has put up with it for generations, sometimes with good humour. The truth is more varied: Tunbridge Wells has a busy theatre scene, a lively arts crowd and independent shops. But no real town can compete with a legend.
Rocks, commons and cricket
Locals go to the Common, a stretch of open heath and woodland right beside the centre. Nearby, sandstone outcrops stick out of the ground in odd shapes. Toad Rock, on Rusthall Common, really does look like a toad, and High Rocks, a short drive away, was once an Iron Age hillfort. Calverley Grounds is the town's Victorian-style park, full of lawns and flower beds. The Assembly Hall and Trinity Theatre bring in comedians, concerts and plays. Sport here is gentle and traditional. Tunbridge Wells FC plays non-league football, while the town's cricket pitches are local favourites for summer afternoons. And in the independent shops, look out for Tunbridge ware: little wooden boxes decorated with tiny mosaics made from slivers of coloured wood. Visitors to the spa bought them as souvenirs, and they remain a local speciality.