The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868

"TONBRIDGE, (or Tunbridge), a parish and market town in the lowey of Tunbridge, lathe of Aylesford, county Kent, 15 miles S.W. of Maidstone, and 30 S.E. of London by road, or 41 by the London and South-Eastern railway, on which it is a junction station, where the branch line turns off for Tonbridge Wells and Hastings. The parish includes, besides the market town of Tonbridge, the chapelries of Hildenborough and Southborough, and the greater part of the market town and watering-place of Tonbridge Wells. It derives its name from the Tun, one of the six streams of the Medway, which here unite, rendering the river navigable for barges of 40 tons. The manor anciently belonged to the archbishops of Canterbury, and at the time of the Domesday survey was held as part of the honour of Hadlow, or Haslow, by Richard Fitz-Gilbert, or Richard de Tonbridge, afterwards Earl of Clare. Under his protection the town rose into a place of importance, being defended by a strong castle, which was subsequently taken by William Rufus, and in the baronial wars by Prince Edward, son of Henry III., in which latter siege the town was burnt by the garrison. Prince Edward was entertained here on his return from the Holy Land, and granted certain immunities to the priory for canons of St. Augustine, founded in the reign of Henry I. by Richard de Clare, first Earl of Hertford. In 1295, Edward I. summoned the borough to return two members to parliament, and confiscated the castle on account of the rebellion of Hugh de Audley. It was afterwards given to the Staffords, who having forfeited it in the reign of Henry VIII., Queen Elizabeth gave it to the Careys. It is now in ruins, but a tower-gateway remains. The town, which occupies a gentle declivity, consists chiefly of one principal street, broad, and partially paved. It contains a townhall and market house, two branch banks, a savings-bank, literary and scientific institution, union poorhouse at Pembury, mechanics' institution, established in 1850, public library, and a stone bridge, built in 1775, besides four small ones over the several branches of the Medway, which here becomes navigable for barges, and has a spacious wharf, near the bridge, whence the timber brought from the Weald is sent down the Medway. There are also breweries, maltings, corn and gunpowder mills, an iron foundry, tannery, railway-carriage house and workshops, occupying a site of 10 acres adjoining the station, and numerous establishments for the manufacture of Tonbridge ware-as toys, dressing-cases, snuff-boxes, tea-chests, &c. made out of holly, yew, cherry, and other woods. A considerable business is done in the general and carrying trades by means of the railway and the river Medway. The population of the parish in 1861 was 21,001, but of the town 7,147. It gives name to the hundred of Tonbridge, for which the sessions are held here on the second and last Tuesdays in every month. It is the head of a Poor-law Union, embracing 10 parishes, and of new County Court and superintendent registry districts. The surrounding country is fertile and well wooded, and hops are largely cultivated. The subsoil is Wealden clay and soft ragstone, interspersed with beds of secondary ironstone, which give rise to the chalybeate springs. About half a mile from the town, on the Wells road, is a chalybeate spring, as good as those at the Wells, but not much used. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury, gross value about £1,000. The church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, is old, with a tower and eight bells. In the interior are some monuments, including one to R. Children, by Roubiliac; and that of James Alexander, of Somerhill, a great benefactor of the town, who died in 1848. In addition to the parish church are the district churches of St. Stephen, Hildenborough, Southborough, and St. Thomas, the livings of which are all perpetual curacies, varying in value from £300 to £120. The church of St. Stephen, erected in 1852, is situated a little way out of the town, on the road to Tonbridge Wells (which see). There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, and Free Methodists. The local charities include two sets of almshouses, and the endowment of the grammar school founded in 1,553 by Lord Mayor Judde, who was a native of this town. The grammar school was lately rebuilt by the Skinners' Company, under whose management it is conducted, assisted by the advice of the warden and fellows of All Souls' College, Oxford. Its revenues now exceed £5,000, and it has 29 exhibitions to various colleges, tenable for four years. There are besides National, infant, and Sunday schools. The market is held on the first and third Tuesdays in each month, and a fair on the 11th October."

"HILDENBOROUGH, a parochial chapelry in the parish of Tonbridge, hundred of Tonbridge Lowey, lathe of Aylesford, county Kent, 2 miles N.W. of Tonbridge, its post town. It is partly in the parish of Leigh, and was formed into an ecclesiastical district in the year 1844. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Canterbury, value £170, in the patronage of the Vicar of Tonbridge. The church, which was erected in 1844, has a spired tower containing one bell. Here is a National school for both sexes."

"LANGTON-GREEN, a hamlet in the parish of Tonbridge, lathe of Aylesford, county Kent, 2 miles W. of Tonbridge-Wells."

"SOUTHBOROUGH, a chapelry in the parish and lowey of Tonbridge, lathe of Aylesford, county Kent, 2 miles N. of Tunbridge Wells, its post town, and 3 S.W. of Tonbridge. It is a large village situated on the road betwixt Tonbridge and the Wells. It was formerly much resorted to for its celebrated mineral waters, and is still visited during the summer season. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Canterbury, value £153, in the patronage of trustees. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is situated on the common. The register dates from 1830. A new church, dedicated to St. Thomas, has recently been built at the expense of Mrs. Pugh, the same lady who founded an institution in 1856 for 6 widows of the counties of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. There are an endowed free school for boys of the parishes of Tonbridge, Bidborough, and Speldhurst, and National and infant schools. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. Bentham Hill, Broom Hill, and Great Bounds Park are the principal residences. A. Pott, Esq., and Mrs. Deacon, are lord and lady of the manor."

"TUNBRIDGE WELLS, a market town and watering place, chiefly in the parish of Tonbridge, in the lowey of Tonbridge, lathe of Aylesford, county Kent, and partly in the parishes of Speldhurst in Kent and Frant in Sussex, 18 miles S. W. of Maidstone, and 36 S.E. from London by road, or 46 by the Hastings branch of the London and South-Eastern railway, on which it is a station. This town, which is situated in a healthy spot, has grown up since the reign of James I., when the medicinal properties of the Wells were first discovered by Dudley Lord North, whilst on a visit to Eridge Castle, the seat of the Earl of Abergavenny. The water is chalybeate, containing steely particles, marine salts, oily and ochreous matter, and a volatile vitriolic spirit. The Wells were visited by Queen Henrietta Maria, on the occasion of the birth of the prince, afterwards Charles II.; but there being then no houses within six miles, she was obliged to camp on the downs with her suite. They were frequently visited by Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II., by Queen Anne, and by her present Majesty in 1834, and again in 1849. The town has been much enlarged of late years, and there are numerous hotels and lodging-houses, assembly rooms, Calverley Park and Promenade, and the Wells House, situated near the centre of the town, with a portico or piazza in front, and approached by a parade 525 feet in length. The principal public buildings are the town-Hall, in the Calverley-road; a new market-house, built of Calverley sandstone; the corn exchange, formerly the theatre; a police station or sessions house; the infirmary and dispensary; the Victoria schools, founded in 1834 by the Queen and the late Duchess of Kent; a mechanics' institute; literary and scientific society, with museum and library of 2,000 volumes attached, a savings-bank and three branch banks. The boundaries of the town are Mount Sion, where the Presbyterians had a chapel; Ephraim, where the Baptists had theirs; Mount Pleasant or Calverley Park, and Bishop's Down. The oldest church is that of King Charles-toe-Martyr, situated near the end of the Parade; the other churches are all modern. Trinity Church was built in 1827, at a cost of £12,000; Christ Church in 1841; St. John's Church in 1858; and St. James's Church, recently completed. The cemetery is situated on the London road. The population of the town in 1851 was 10,587, and in 1861, 13,807. It is governed under a local Act, and the town commissioners meet at the townhall. The principal industry carried on is the manufacture of Tonbridge ware. Tonbridge Wells is a polling-place for the western division of the county, and a petty sessions town, the magistrates holding their meetings at the townhall every Monday. A new County Court is held monthly. The horticultural society holds several exhibitions in the course of the year, and races take place annually in August, on a circular course of one mile 246 yards. A newspaper is published weekly on Friday. The principal seats in the vicinity are Eridge Park, of the Earl of Abergavenny; Bayham Abbey, of the Marquis of Camden; Tunbridge House, Frant, and further off the castles of Penshurst and Hever. In a valley adjoining Rusthall Common, about a mile from the town, are the Toad and other rocks, from 10 to 20 feet high, and remarkable for their singular shapes; and beyond these are the High Rocks, in Sussex. There are chapels for Roman Catholic, Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, Baptists, and Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion. A Church of England proprietary school was established here in 1845; and there are Free, British, National, infant, and charity schools. Market day is Friday."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]