Borough of Tunbridge Wells

Borough of Tunbridge Wells
Non-metropolitan district
Tunbridge Wells shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Royal Tunbridge Wells
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
• MPs	Greg Clark
Area
• Total	127.9 sq mi (331.3 km²)
Area rank	131st (of 326)
Population (mid-2014 est.)
• Total	116,105
• Rank	192nd (of 326)
• Density	910/sq mi (350/km²)
• Ethnicity	95.1% White 1.4% S.Asian 1.1% Black 1.3% Mixed Race 1.0% Chinese or other
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
ONS code	29UQ (ONS) E07000116 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TQ5817739112
Website	www.tunbridgewells.gov.uk

The Borough of Tunbridge Wells is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the municipal borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells along with Southborough urban district, Cranbrook Rural District and most of Tonbridge Rural District.

Description of borough

Location

The borough of Tunbridge Wells lies along the south western border of Kent, partly on the northern edge of the Weald, the remainder on the Weald Clay plain in the upper reaches of the rivers Teise and Beult.

The North Weald area

The restricted area immediately to the north and west of Tunbridge Wells lies within the Weald. The presence of sandstone outcrops and the chalybeate springs, together with old workings, point to ancient iron manufacturing in the area.

Weald Clay plain

This plain is part of the so-called Garden of England, named for its extensive orchards and former hop farms, sheep and cattle. A string of villages lies across this plain, from Brenchley and Horsmonden to Benenden and Headcorn.

Communications

Roads The main roads through the borough are the A21 London to Hastings road and in the east, the A229, which runs from the A21 at Hurst Green through Cranbrook to Maidstone.
Railways The line of the former South Eastern Railway (SER) main line crosses the clay plain in an almost unbroken straight line between Redhill and Ashford, Kent. The SER line to Hastings passes through Tunbridge Wells; here there was once a further branch connection south-eastwards to Groombridge, and at Paddock Wood is the southern terminus of the Medway Valley Line to Maidstone.

Borough organisation

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council is composed of 48 councillors representing 20 wards across the borough. Eight wards are within Royal Tunbridge Wells itself including Broadwater, Culverden; Pantiles & St Marks; Park; Rusthall; Sherwood & St John's and St. James. The remainder are rural wards covering the other main towns and villages.

Each of the latter also have their own form of local government in the form of a civil parish. They are as follows, paired where two villages are served by one councillor:

Benenden & Cranbrook
Bidborough
Brenchley & Horsmonden
Capel
Frittenden & Sissinghurst
Goudhurst & Lamberhurst
Hawkhurst & Sandhurst
Paddock Wood: two wards, East and West
Pembury
Southborough: two wards, Southborough & High Brooms; and Southborough North
Speldhurst & Bidborough

Politics

Tunbridge Wells is and has almost always been from inception, a Conservative Westminster constituency. As of the elections in May 2014 the present political composition of the Council is:^[1]

Conservatives 38
Labour 3
Liberal Democrats 3
UKIP 1
Vacant 1

Places of interest

Apart from Tunbridge Wells itself, places of interest in the Borough include:

Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst for leisure water pursuits and outdoor conferences
Sissinghurst Castle gardens: the home of Vita Sackville-West
facilities for rock-climbing at the 'High Rocks', 2 miles west of Tunbridge Wells

References

↑ "Your Councillors". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Archived from the original on 2015-04-29. Retrieved 29 April 2015.

External links

Official website

Royal Tunbridge Wells

Locations within Tunbridge Wells	Hawkenbury High Brooms Langton Green Rusthall The Pantiles

Buildings	High Brooms station High Rocks halt Holy Trinity Church Hungershall Forge Kent and Sussex Hospital King Charles the Martyr Church Royal Victoria Place St. Mark's Church St. Paul's Church Standings Mill The Opera House Tunbridge Wells station Tunbridge Wells West station

Businesses	BBC South East Freight Transport Association Kent and Sussex Courier Subbuteo

People	List of people from Royal Tunbridge Wells Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

Political	Tunbridge Wells constituency (since 1974) Tunbridge Wells borough (since 1974) Local elections

Schools and colleges	Bennett Memorial Skinners' St. Gregory's Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School K College

Sport, leisure and the arts	Assembly Hall Theatre BBC Radio Kent Dunorlan Park High Rocks Ice Melters Curling Club KMFM West Kent Linden Park Cricket Club Nevill Ground South East Today Spa Valley Railway Trinity Theatre Tunbridge ware Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week Tunbridge Wells Football club Tunbridge Wells Forum Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon Tunbridge Wells Rugby club

Twin towns	Wiesbaden

Italics denote places in East Sussex included as they are generally considered part of Tunbridge Wells.

Towns and villages in the Borough of Tunbridge Wells

	Ashurst Baker's Cross Beal's Green Bedgebury Cross Benenden Bidborough Brenchley Capel Colliers Green Coursehorn Cranbrook Culverden Down Curtisden Green Five Oak Green Frittenden Goudhurst Groombridge Hartley Hawkenbury Hawkhurst High Brooms Horsmonden Kilndown Lamberhurst Langton Green Matfield Paddock Wood Park Pembury Royal Tunbridge Wells Rusthall Sandhurst Southborough Speldhurst Stone Cross Sissinghurst Swattenden

List of places in Kent

Districts of South East England

Berkshire	Bracknell Forest Reading Slough West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham

Buckinghamshire	Aylesbury Vale Chiltern Milton Keynes South Bucks Wycombe

East Sussex	Brighton and Hove Eastbourne Hastings Lewes Rother Wealden

Hampshire	Basingstoke and Deane East Hampshire Eastleigh Fareham Gosport Hart Havant New Forest Portsmouth Rushmoor Southampton Test Valley Winchester

Isle of Wight	Isle of Wight

Kent	Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Gravesham Maidstone Medway Sevenoaks Shepway Swale Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells

Oxfordshire	Cherwell Oxford South Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse West Oxfordshire

Surrey	Elmbridge Epsom and Ewell Guildford Mole Valley Reigate and Banstead Runnymede Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tandridge Waverley Woking

West Sussex	Adur Arun Chichester Crawley Horsham Mid Sussex Worthing

Coordinates: 51°07′44″N 0°15′39″E / 51.12889°N 0.26083°E / 51.12889; 0.26083

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