1. You are here:
  2. Homepage
  3. The Uphill Struggles of Royal Tunbridge Wells

Back to results

The Uphill Struggles of Royal Tunbridge Wells

The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5TN

  • Multiple dates available
  • | In person
  • | Pre-booking required
  • | Walk / Tour

This walk will look at how the town developed from a hole in the ground to a cultured Victorian town. This was not without some challenges and events which will be illustrated as the town broke out of The Pantiles to reach its peak "up the hill".

Royal Tunbridge Wells grew from a chance discovery — a spring in a wooded valley in 1606 — into one of England’s most fashionable resort towns of the 18th and 19th centuries. This walk begins with the early story of The Pantiles and traces the town’s improvised expansion in the early 1700s, when rival clusters of lodging houses competed to attract stylish visitors “taking the waters” and enjoying the entertainments of the Walks. The route then climbs to the ambitious 1828 greenfield development at the top of the town: the refined Calverley estate, designed by the celebrated architect Decimus Burton to rival the attractions of the Pantiles in the town below and a carefully planned counterpoint to the resort’s earlier, more chaotic growth. The route will also call in on the noted women’s suffrage movement of Tunbridge Wells, whose bold and sometimes incendiary actions so enraged one very famous author that he launched a public tirade against them. Taken together, this is a chronological journey in which the town’s development unfolds before your eyes — a story of chance, ambition, rivalry, in a way you might not have expected!

Timings

Saturday 12 September:
10.30-11.45
Monday 14 September:
14.00-15.45
Wednesday 16 September:
10.30-11.45
Friday 18 September:
14.00-15.45

Location & directions

The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5TN

Directions:
The walk will start outside the chemist at No. 4 The Pantiles (across the road from the Church of King Charles the Martyr) and finish in front of the Town Hall at the top of Mt Pleasant.
Contact on day:
David Woosnam
Telephone number:
+447950200031

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:
Pre-booking required
Booking conditions:
Please us the SignUp booking website link below. You will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp and SignUp does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me, David Woosnam on 07950 200031 and I can sign you up manually.
Booking contact name:
David Woosnam
Booking telephone number:
+447950200031
Booking email:
[email protected]
Booking website:
https://signup.com/go/socWPfD

Accessibility details

Sorry, but no dogs! (unless you live in Calverley Park villas).

Additional information

The walk will start outside the chemist at No. 4 The Pantiles (across the road from the Church of King Charles the Martyr) and finish in front of the Town Hall at the top of Mt Pleasant. There are several steps at the beginning of the walk, and quite a steep climb up one hill. After that, the walk is on the level.

Max number of people:
16
Estimated duration:
1 hour(s) 45 minute(s)

Back to results

Other nearby events

The Pantiles - Something in the Water!

The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5TN
Multiple dates available
In person
Pre-booking required

This walking tour will look at the history of the Pantiles where in 1606, the medicinal springs that would put Tunbridge Wells on the map were discovered.

The Elevated Decimus Burton Walking Tour

Church Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1JP
Multiple dates available
In person
Pre-booking required

Up until the 1820's, Tunbridge Wells was pretty much focussed around the Old High Street and The Pantiles. That all changed when Decimus Burton designed and executed the Calverley Estate at the top of Mount Pleasant. This is the story.

An introduction to everyday people who rest in Woodbury Park Cemetery

Woodbury Park Cemetery, Woodbury Park Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 9NH
20 Sep 2026
In person
Pre-booking not required

Join us for this walk around Woodbury Park Cemetery where you’ll hear about the history of the cemetery and the lives of some of the everday people who rest there.