Tonbridge

 TONBRIDGE

There is more to Tonbridge than the castle, Tonbridge was granted a market charter in 1259, and there are quite a few buildings dating from the medieval periods to be seen about the town.

Tonbridge was originally called Tunbridge Town, and its' neighbour was Tunbridge Wells - until 1870, when the Post Office changed it to Tonbridge to avoid confusion. However, Southern Railway were running late again, and they didn't change the station name until 1929!

In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi paid a brief visit to Tonbridge, on his way to Canterbury Cathedral.

There's a program on TV this week about the last woman to be executed in the UK, Ruth Ellis. Ruth married her husband, George Ellis, in Tonbridge. George later went on to commit suicide. Ruth's was never a happy life, but from then on, it went downhill. Her boyfriend was incredibly cruel, and in 1955, she shot him dead. She was convicted of pre-meditated murder and sentenced to death.  Whether she deserved that sentence, or whether she was the victim in all this, is down to personal perception. Watch one of the many films that have been made about her since, and make your own mind up.

In 2006, the UK's largest bank robbery took place at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge. £53,000,000 in unused bank notes were stolen in a very violent raid. The gang left behind £154,000,000, as they didn't have room to take it! Over 30 people were arrested and given long prison sentences, but £32,000,000 has never been recovered.

Ebenezer Chapel

The beliefs and teachings differ in every Ebenezer Chapel, as they hold to the beliefs of their founders. These could be from any of the non-conformist religions, whether Baptist, Methodist or Congregationalists. The name derives from the Book of Samuel in the Bible, where Samuel names a place 'Ebenezer', meaning 'stone of help'.

Ferox Hall

Built in 1732 for John Children, one of a notable local family (see St. Peter & St. Paul church). During WWII, Ferox Hall (meaning: ferocious), which stands opposite Tonbridge School, was a home for the Aged. A school boy in the reading room, heard an approaching V1 'Doodlebug', and watched as a Spitfire tipped it over, causing it to crash into the tennis court behind Ferox Hall. The full story is on the board below. 

The subsequent explosion caused significant damage to the hall and surrounding buildings. After the war, it became a 'House' for Tonbridge School. It is Grade II listed.

My Dad captained his local cricket team, and was a huge fan of Colin Cowdray, having played  both with him, and against him.

Anna Atkins (1789 – 1871) was a botanist and photographer, born and raised at Ferox Hall in Kent. Unusually for a woman of her time, Atkins was given a full scientific education, most likely because her father John George Children, was a scientist himself and Secretary of the Royal Society.

Her detailed engravings of shells were used to illustrate her father’s translation of “Lamarck’s Genera of Shells”. In 1843 Atkins self-published her “photograms” - which used a photographic printing process using light sensitive paper - in the book “British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions”. This was one of the first publications to record and present specimens in this way and so established photography as an accurate medium for scientific illustration.

Memorial Garden

I found the Memorial Garden a pleasnt space, standing as it does, away from the hustle and bustle of the High Street, on the banks of the river. At first it looked a little plain and regimented, but I think that was mostly down to the time of year, and lack of colour.

However, it is beautifully maintained, and a pleasant spot in which to sit quietly.

'The Torch' mosaic sculpture in the Memorial Garden. This glorious poppy was designed by 12-year old Ellie Baxter in 2014, winner of a design competition. Her design was carried out by local sculptor Guy Portelli, assisted by local students.

The Old Fire Station

Built in Victorian times, it was active until 1984. It has since become a popular cafe and community venue.

The plaque on the front of the Fire Station bears the Tonbridge motto 'Salus Populi Suprema Lex', which translates as 'The good of the people is the supreme law'

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul

Such and elegant and impressive church! It stands just off the High Street, and in the centre of the town. It was not until the 17th Century that most churches were given clocks. These were time-pieces for the town as few people had watches. The present clock dates from the 1870s

There was a 'Knit and Natter' group going on while I was there, and a very nice lady kindly turned the lights on for me after I had been there a while, so that I didn't miss anything! Hence the difference in some of the camera shots. 

An extra south aisle was added in 1820 to serve the boys of Tonbridge School. The church is best known for its hatchments and memorials - loads of them, but too high up for me to make much sense of them.. The two most important memorials are: Lady Philadelphia Lyttleton who died in 1663 whilst attending Queen Catherine on her visit to the Wells (Tonbridge was the parish church for what we now know as Tunbridge Wells); I seemed to have missed this one, so I'll make a point of looking for it next time I go there. 

In the north aisle is the memorial carved by Louis Francois Roubiliac to Richard Children, member of a long-established Tonbridge family who died in 1753. Particularly well-carved is the skull with bat's wings at the base.

There are other memorials to members of the same family, and their local history is very apparent, both in this church, and the surrounding area.

The Childrens were a family established in Kent since at least the 14th century, with an estate called ‘Childrens’ near Stocks Green, Hildenborough. An early George Children (1606-70) was educated at Tonbridge School and became curate at the parish church.

Richard Children lived at Ramhurst Manor, Leigh until his death in1753 (and was allegedly still haunting it a hundred years later). His memorial  carries verses by James Cawthorne, the headmaster of Tonbridge School at the time.

Richard’s son John (1706-71) was the first to live in Tonbridge town, moving to Ferox Hall in about 1750 and adding the present brick frontage to the existing house a few years later. 

John Children was succeeded at Ferox Hall by his son George (c1742-1818), the first member of the family to play a major part in the town’s affairs. A barrister who never practised, he was a JP for half a century, under-sheriff for Kent and Sussex, a proprietor of the Medway Navigation Company, and one of the founders of the Tonbridge Bank.

He was also a close and devoted father to his only son, John George, whose mother died six days after giving birth to him. George was a kindly and much-loved Tonbridge figure, as his memorial in the parish church attests 

John George Children (1777-1852) was a scientist at a time when science was still largely a pursuit for gentleman amateurs. He was well-known in London scientific circles, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society at the age of 30 and later became its Secretary. His particular interests were in electricity and the chemistry of minerals.

Following his education at Tonbridge School, Eton and Cambridge, he married, but like his father soon became a widower when his wife died a year after the birth of their only child, Anna. After a period of foreign travel, including a visit to the United States and Canada which was cut short by ill-health, and a rock-collecting trip to Cornwall and Wales, John George returned to Ferox Hall and began to devote himself to his scientific pursuits, working in the purpose-built laboratory in the grounds of Ferox Hall. 

In 1808 John George was involved in an accident when a sudden conflagration during an electrical experiment threw caustic alkali into his eyes. Luckily the damage was not permanent, but he advised anyone involved in similar work always to wear goggles. The Childrens went on to construct the famous giant battery of 1813.

In 1811, John George was involved in setting up the Tunbridge Gunpowder Company, together with his father, on whose land at Leigh the Powder Mills were built, and other backers. Humphrey Davy, a close friend, was also briefly involved in this enterprise.

By 1813 the Tonbridge Bank was on the point of collapse, bringing financial ruin to the Childrens. Ferox Hall eventually had to be sold, and they moved to London, where John George had to start earning a living. A post was found for him at the British Museum, and he served there in various capacities for more than 20 years.

John George died in January 1852 at his daughter Anna's home in Halstead and is buried at St George's, Bloomsbury. His name is commemorated in an Australian snake‚ Children’s Python‚ and a mineral, childrenite. 

John George Children’s only child, Anna (1799-1871) was brought up by her father and grandfather in the lively family home at Ferox Hall. From her father, to whom she was particularly close, she gained practical skills and a love of science unusual in a woman at that time. She was a botanist and also an excellent illustrator who contributed more than 200 drawings to a book on shells which her father had translated from the French.

In 1825 she married John Pelly Atkins, who would later become Sheriff of Kent, and it is as Anna Atkins that she is best known – better known in fact than her father or grandfather. There were no children and Anna devoted much of her later life to photography, a field in which she is a notable pioneer.

The Childrens were friendly with two other important figures in the history of photography, W. H. Fox Talbot and the astronomer John Herschel. Herschel devised a photographic technique known as the cyanotype process, in which paper was impregnated with a material which turned blue when exposed to light, producing what were later known as blueprints. Anna Atkins used this technique to create shadow images of botanical specimens, a pioneering application of photography to science. Over ten years she was personally responsible for the production of the more than 400 cyanotype plates needed for each copy of her book ‘Photographs of British Algae’, based on her own seaweed collection. This book was the first ever produced wholly by photographic means. 

Anna died in 1871 at her home, Halstead Place, between Knockholt and Chelsfield. 

Now, given that Jane Austen's father was both pupil and later master at Tonbridge school, I need to find out about the other members of the same family.

As you can see from the tree below (sorry it's a bit small but it should come up readable when you click on it), Jane's Grandfather and the Rev. Henry's father were brothers.

William, Jane’s grandfather, is buried with his first wife, Rebecca, and their first child, Hampson, who died at two years old. William’s second wife, Susanna, who outlived him is also buried here. The gravestone is protected by thick glass so the inscription can be read. Unfortunately, that makes it very difficult to photograph. GEORGE, Jane’s father, and his brother and sisters were christened here. Copies of relevant entries from the parish register are to be seen in a display case in the entrance to the church along with other memorabilia. 

 In the meantime, here's a few more pictures that require some research.

Rev. Joseph Jefferson - I've had very little success of finding out much about this gentleman. He appears to have been born about 1794, and we know he died in 1825, aged about 31 in Vere, Jamaica, apparently of illness. There is a Civil List in Jamaica, that confirms that in 1824 he was both Rector of the parish of Vere, and a governor and teacher at the Vere Free School. The referernce to his father, would intimate that he was born in Tonbridge.

Graceful memorial to the men from the Tonbridge area who fell in the South African Campaign of 1899-1902. (more generally known as the Boer War)

below are three parts of the same monument in the Sanctuary, to the right of the altar - funerary helmet, husband and wife in a vertical display. 

Another important landowner with a country residence in the Tonbridge area, Sir Anthony Denton. Sir Anthony Denton was the lay rector of the parish until his death in 1615. This meant he was a nobleman who inherited the legal right to appoint the vicar of this parish and possession of 'all lands, tithes and the like in Tunbridge Warde', a right he inherited from his father.

He had a residence in Tonbridge as well as two in London. The inscription by his tomb names Sir Anthony as "one of the Honorable band of Pensioners (both to our late, renouned Lady Q Elizabeth, & also to our now soverain Lord K James)". The Gentleman Pensioners were an elite group of fifty knights, established by Henry VIII as royal bodyguards. Account rolls from the time tell us Sir Anthony served in this position from 1602 until 1615, and this may account for his prominent burial in the church; above him is his funeral helmet, the mark of a Knight.

and 'his deer and dolefull wife' Elizabeth. (She looks like she's about to throw up :D )

The East Window is the main window in churches, because the sun rises in the East and reminds us of the Resurrection of Jesus. Our window is a unique one containing 8,000 pieces of glass. It is not a 'stained' glass window but an amalgamation of small pieces of coloured glass, which gives the colours a greater richness.

The window was installed in 1954 after the plain glass window was destroyed by a flying bomb in 1944. Leonard Walker collected these pieces of coloured glass from all over the country, fitting them together into his overall design. In this way the window also represents how people of all shapes and sizes, from all places can come together as Church in worship of Jesus Christ.

Leonard Walker was 80 when he designed and made the window, which took three years. He was paid £8 a week, which was a working man's wage in the 1950s.
 

Beautifully carved pulpit. The present pulpit was gifted to the church by Mrs Deacon in 1878. If you look closely you can see the heads of many different animals carved into it. The limestone base has a passion flower surround.

War Memorial set up in a niche

Tonbridge Castle 

Tonbridge Castle is an imposing Norman motte and bailey fortress protected by a massive gatehouse. The castle may be the best example in England of the motte and bailey style so favoured by the Normans.

A magnificent medieval gatehouse fronts the remains of Tonbridge Castle, begun by Richard Fitzgilbert, a relative of William the Conqueror. Fitzgilbert's simple fortification was replaced by a massive stone structure which was added to and remodelled over the centuries.

After the Norman victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror gave lands to his most powerful supporters at key points around his new kingdom. One of these key points was the crossing of the River Medway at Tonbridge.

William entrusted the Tonbridge crossing to a kinsman named Richard Fitzgilbert. Fitzgilbert held estates throughout the south east of England, including one at Clare, Suffolk, and his family eventually became known as the de Clares.

Fitzgilbert erected a traditional motte and bailey castle, with a timber fortress atop an earthwork mound, surrounded by an outer enclosing bank and ditch topped by a palisade.

In 1088 the de Clare family joined a rebellion against William II. The king's army besieged Tonbridge Castle and the rebel garrison was forced to surrender. The town was burned by the royal army, yet de Clare was allowed to retain ownership of the castle.

Given the enmity between the de Clares and the king, it may be no coincidence that the arrow that accidentally killed the king in 1100 was shot by Walter Tyrell, a son-in-law of Gilbert de Clare.

In the middle of the 12th century, a dispute over the castle broke out between the de Clares and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who claimed that the de Clares held Tonbridge from them, not from the crown. In 1163 the Archbishop sent a messenger with a document outlining his claims, and Roger de Clare forced the messenger to eat the entire document, including the parchment and seals.

The de Clare's supported the Baron's Revolt against King John, leading to the Magna Carta in 1215. King John retaliated by besieging Tonbridge Castle and the defenders were forced to surrender. However, John died shortly thereafter and Tonbridge was restored to the de Clares by Henry III.

When Gilbert died in 1230 the wardship of his young son Richard was given to Hugh de Burgh, who was given the castle in trust. The Archbishop of Canterbury also claimed the wardship and excommunicated de Burgh after Sir Hugh secretly married Richard de Clare to his daughter.

Affairs took an even more confusing turn when Henry III supported de Burgh, yet annulled the marriage and took Richard as his own ward. The Archbishop appealed to the Pope, who, not surprisingly, supported his claim, but the Archbishop died on his way back from Rome.

Around 1253 Henry III granted Earl Richard the right to build town walls and crenellate Tonbridge, and the castle as we see it today began to take shape. Richard's son, another Gilbert de Clare, supported Simon de Montfort's rebellion against the king, and in 1264 Henry besieged and captured the castle.

De Clare was reconciled to the king, and in 1270 he welcomed Edward I and Eleanor of Aquitaine to England and entertained the new monarchs at Tonbridge Castle.

The castle passed through marriage to the Stafford family but eventually became Crown property and was granted to a succession of royal favourites. At the time of the Civil War, it was owned by Thomas Weller, a Parliamentary supporter.

The castle was slighted during the Civil War, and during the 18th century stone from the castle was used to build bridges and locks along the River Medway. 

Tonbridge Castle is extremely impressive; though little remains of the keep, the Norman motte and the castle's perimeter walls are striking, but by far the most impressive castle feature is the gatehouse, which is really a miniature fortress in its own right.

Sadly, today, it was wreathed in scaffolding, being given some TLC. I took one or two pictures around the grounds, but the rest will have to wait for a later date.

This is the area of the curtain wall known as the Water Tower

Tonbridge School

Tonbridge School can be proud of the many well-known people who have graced the halls of learning. One whom they could never be proud of surely, was Aleister Crowley - once known as 'the wickedest man in the world'. Fortunately he left after only a year. 

Sir Tim Waterstone - founder of the famous bookshops. He was fired from his job at W.H. Smith's, and reckoned it was the best thing that ever happened to him! He went on to open his first bookshop in 1982, and now there are nearly 300 of them.

In 1953, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, visited Tonbridge School to celebrate its' 400th. Anniversary. She 'opened' the school entrance with newly erected boars heads on each pillar. The boars heads were designed by a former Tonbridge School art master.

There are two coats of arms above the entrance to the school. The one on the left is those of Sir Andrew Judde. He was a wealthy merchant, who founded what has become one of the foremost public schools in England. He was born in 1492 to a local landowner, and by 1500 became Lord Mayor of London. He bought land in London, and used the rent from the tenants to pay for the school. He also founded two other schools locally, and funded the workhouse.

The coat of arms on the right is the Skinners Arms. The Skinners Company are one of the oldest livery companies in London, and they have endowed several schools in England.

George, Jane Austen's father, was born in Tonbridge in 1731, and educated at Tonbridge School. He later went on to be a master there.

A pillbox stands in the grounds of Tonbridge school, next to a busy road junction. There’s a little information plaque marking its location. This box was uncovered during the construction of the schools new science block in 2018. It was one of two, (the second - since destroyed - was located across the road on the corner of Portman park), built to defend the road blocks that would have spanned the junction here. At the time the high street was the main route to London, meaning that the Nazis would have had to negotiate their way through past this point if they were to advance onto the capital.

The board explains all.....................

 

The Company of Skinners arms up high on the wall at the end of the main school building.

A column of authors and books. One of them is Howard's End by E.M. Forster.  Edward Morgan Forster was born in London in 1879. He went to school in Tonbridge, and the local theatre is named after him.

And so to everything else..............

The High Street crosses the river in two places, with the two bridges being known as 'Little Bridge and Big Bridge'.

This is the Big Bridge......

and this is the Little Bridge

Close to the Castle, is the Town War Memorial

There is also a 'Twinning Stone'. Tonbridge is twinned with the German town of Heusenstamm which, like Tonbridge, has a castle.

The 14th. Century Chequers Inn which stands next to the High Street bus stops, has a rather grim addition to its' inn sign! The Chequers dates back to 1264 but has been much rebuilt. The noose is a reminder that the inn stood close to the area where public punishments took place.

In 1555 Margaret Polley was burnt at the stake as a Protestant heretic.

I think this was once a rather nice Art Deco building

The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain & Cattle Trough Association weas set up in London by two benevolent men to provide free clean water to London. They initially started with human drinking water, but in 1867 they partnered with the RSPCA to also provide water for animals.

As cars replaced horses, the requiurement for the troughs lessened.

The Rose and Crown Hotel, with its' magnificent Royal Arms above the entrance.

In 1880, a riot outside the Rose and Crown followed the parliamentary elections. Several thousand people started hurling stones amd cobbles at each other, and when the police arrived to try and break it up, they turned on the police and threw rocks at them! Many people, including 12 policemen, were seriously injured. Incidentally, that election saw the Conservatives ousted, and the Liberals under William Gladstone take over.

The old Corn Exchange

A rooftop Griffin, keeping watch over the town. In Greek mythology, the Griffin was believed to protect against evil spirits and bring good luck.

Attractive building in the High Street, that still bears the name of its' former owners. Lawsons were once auctioneers in the town

If you look up as you walk down Church Lane towards the parish church, you may get the feeling that you're being watched!

The tiger is staring down at you from the upper storey of this Tudor house, called the 'Tyger's Head'. Grade II listed (the house, not the Tyger). It's believed to have been built around 1420 as a guild hall for one of the medieval craft guilds. 

The old weatherboarded Man of Kent pub. The inn sign depicts a worker in a Kentish Hop Garden. The pub gained a Grade II listing on 20 January 1972. The pub may well have been the same building that was once called the "Old Swan,"  am also told that East Street was previously called Swan Lane.

'Wesleyan Methodists' are those Methodists who follow the teachings of John Wesley, and dating back to about 1740.  Bit obvious really. 'Methodists' themselves, get their name from the methodical way they carry out their Christian beliefs. In the UK, Methodism is the 4th. largest Christian denomination in the country.

The Wesleyan Methodist church, now apartments. The Wesleyan Sunday School was erected in the 60th. year of Queen Victoria's reign, in 1897.

Weather vane near the Big Bridge, showing a swan and cygnets

detail of bridge rails of both bridges. Each vertical support has the Invicta emblem of Kent.

Formerly a post office, now a Wetherspoons pub called the 'Humphrey Bean'. Before the building was taken over by Royal Mail, it was a hostelry called the 'Three Loggerheads', whose landlord was Humphrey Bean. I'm not a fan of Wetherspoons pubs, but my husband's colleagues threw a retirement party for him here, and it was certainly a very pleasant evening!

This artwork is called 'On The Map' amd was fashioned by Ev Meynell to celebrate the Millenium. The base plots the course of the River Medway through the area.

Another famous Kent and England cricketer, Frank Woolley

A little riverside 'shabby chic'

Two dates on the wall opposite the Canoe Club HQ. I think they're something to do with the local water company, but not researched it yet.

The Offices and tracks of the Tonbridge Miniature Railway, which operates at weekends in the summer months. 

Another war memnorial stands in the gardens below the curtain wall. This one is to the Old Boys of Tonbridge School, who lost their lives fighting in the Boer War.

A stone memorial to the purchase of Tonbridge Castle in 1900, to be held for the prople of Tonbridge in perpetuity

The former Masonic Hall