ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS

ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS

It was a stop-over place for coffee while on the way to the Pashley Manor Gardens.

I did not get to see the heritage part of the town – as the coach dropped us in the town centre for only one hour.

From my short existence in this royal town – I find that shopping and antiques are prominent, here.

Royal Tunbridge Wells offers one of the most unique shopping experiences in south east England with its unrivalled combination of small specialist shops, designer boutiques and big high street names making the town a real pleasure for shoppers of all tastes.

The Pantiles – the famous colonised walkway and once the central meeting place for visiting gentry is at the heart of the historic of Royal Tunbidge Wells – where today it is full of antique shops, galleries and small boutiques.

The town historic past is very much reflected in its architecture – from Regency villas and large Victorian houses, many designed by Decimus Burton, to pretty clapboard cottages. Evidence of this can be found in the “village” area situated behind the old High Street in Mount Ephriam and in Calverley Park and Calverly Park Crescent (both privately owned).

ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS

The Royal Tunbridge Wells lies in the heart of one of the most scenic stretches of countryside in England, surrounded by unspoilt beauty of the Weald. It is located in central Kent countryside. In Georgian times, this popular spa town gained a reputation as the place to see and be seen among royalty and fashionable members of the aristocracy.

Retaining much of the charm and elegance of its Georgian heyday, Royal Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding area today remain a favored destination for those who want to enjoy elegant surroundings in the countryside, just a short distance from London.

The town owes its existence to the chance discovery of the Chalybeate Spring in 1606 by a young nobleman, Dudley Lord North. Lord North felt so rejuvenated from drinking the cool, iron-rich water that he declared the spring water to be healthy, and soon spread the word among his aristocratic friends.

Visitors from London and elsewhere flocked to the small settlement which developed alongside the Spring and which later became know as Tunbridge Wells.

Queen Henrietta Maria (mother of King Charles II), Queen Anne, Queen Victoria, Samuel Pepys, Daniel Defoe and William Makepeace Thackeray all became regular visitors to “The Wells”.

In the 1740s the social lives of the high society visitors and residents of Tunbridge Wels were famously organised by the Master of Ceremonies, Richard “Beau” Nash, a reowned dandy who alternated his visits between Tunbridge Wells and Bath. In Regency England Tunbridge Wells reivalled the resort of nearby Brighton in popularity.

Over 150 years later Tunbridge Wells received recognition of its many royal visitors when King Edward VII granted the town its “Royal” prefix in 1909.

I hope to return some day – to discover more about the wealth of scenery and the heritage of Tunbridge Wells. I wish to visit – Museum & Art Gallery, castles, forest and gardens.