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Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Royal Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge wells pantiles.JPG
The Pantiles, the historic and tourist centre of the town
Royal Tunbridge Wells is located in Kent
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells shown within Kent
Population 64,783 (2016)(2011)
OS grid reference TQ585395
• London 33 mi (53 km) NNW
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town TUNBRIDGE WELLS
Postcode district TN1-TN4
Dialling code 01892
Police Kent
Fire Kent
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Kent
51°07′55″N 0°15′47″E / 51.132°N 0.263°E / 51.132; 0.263Coordinates: 51°07′55″N 0°15′47″E / 51.132°N 0.263°E / 51.132; 0.263

Royal Tunbridge Wells (often shortened to Tunbridge Wells) is a large affluent town in western Kent, England, about 40 miles (64 km) south-east of central London by road, 34.5 miles (55.5 km) by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex. It is situated at the northern edge of the High Weald, the sandstone geology of which is exemplified by the rock formations at the Wellington Rocks and High Rocks.

The town came into being as a spa in the Restoration and had its heyday as a tourist resort under Beau Nash when the Pantiles and its chalybeate spring attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town remains popular and derives some 30 percent of its income from the tourist industry.

The town has a population of around 56,500 and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and the UK parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. In the United Kingdom, Royal Tunbridge Wells has a reputation as being the archetypal conservative "Middle England" town, a stereotype that is typified by the fictional letter-writer "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells".

Evidence suggests that during the Iron Age 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 hill-fort. It is thought that the site was occupied into the era of Roman Britain, and the area continued to be part of the Wealden iron industry until its demise in the late eighteenth century—indeed, an iron forge remains in the grounds of Bayham Abbey, in use until 1575 and documented until 1714.


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