KENTSTAYCATION
TRIUMPHANT
TUNBRIDGE WELLS
A GEORGIAN TOWN AWASH WITH TIMELESS STYLE AND SOPHISTICATION THAT SEEPS THROUGH ITS HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE , ENTHRALLING ATTRACTIONS AND FABULOUS FINE-DINING .
PENSHURST PLACE
Although Royal Tunbridge Wells shares the podium for being one of Kent ’ s most well-known towns with the likes of Canterbury and Rochester , it stands far apart from them in style and character due to the underlying fact it lays trace to no Roman or ecclesiastical heritage . Sevenoaks to the north and Tenterden to the east can boast medieval trading ties , but during the bustling historical periods during which these towns were solidly establishing their personas and prominence , Tunbridge Wells was yet to be born : an area that was merely a Kentish forest .
If anyone were to take a guess at how this beautiful town came to be , chances are they would be right . The clues lie in the two words that sit either side of Tunbridge . The ‘ Wells ’ part comes from when Lord North discovered the Chalybeate Springs in 1606 and also from the next decades to follow , during which members of the Royal Family and courtiers would travel from far and wide to take in the mineral waters , spreading the word of their health restoring qualities . By the 1640s , enterprising local people had begun to build what were the early beginnings of the town around the springs , and by 1735 Tunbridge Wells had really come into its own . The latter part of the 1700s welcomed Beau Nash , Master of Ceremonies . With his dominant and driving nature and links to royalty and celebrities of the day , Nash commandeered the town and took it from strength to strength . Royalty was a constant element of Tunbridge Wells , so much so that by 1909 it had officially received its ‘ Royal ’ prefix , which was granted by King Edward VII whose mother Queen Victoria had adored the town so much .
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