The earliest known inhabitants of what are now the Commons were the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of c.4500 BC who led a nomadic lifestyle and employed the various rock outcrops in the Tunbridge Wells area as regular encampment sites. The rocks were prominent landmarks in the vast Wealden forest, and their sandstone cliffs had convenient overhangs which could be used to provide shelter and protection. These people probably encouraged the development of heathland in the vicinity of the rocks by maintaining open areas through burning in order to attract grazing deer.
Until the development of Tunbridge Wells as a spa resort, it remained no more than a scattering of dwellings in an outlying corner of Speldhurst parish, the land belonging to the Lord of Rusthall Manor.
With settlements came more extensive clearance of tree cover and the spread of heathland vegetation over a much wider area and before the development of the Pantiles in the late seventeenth century, the Common was continuous with the heathland of Waterdown Forest, the landscape of the future town being described in 1656 as ‘a valley compassed about with stony hills, so barren, that there growth nothing but heath upon the same’.
In 1606 Dudley Lord North, in poor health due to over-indulgence at Court, was staying at Eridge Castle with Lord Abergavenny, whose estate was contiguous with the Manor of Rusthall. While riding along what we now know as Eridge Road, he spotted some orange coloured water on the edge of the Common which he recognised as coming from a chalybeate (iron bearing) spring similar to those at Spa in Belgium which were already famous for their supposed health giving properties. Subsequently, Lord North began to drink the spring water regularly and claimed that it restored him to perfect health. News of the discovery spread rapidly, and in 1608 Lord Abergavenny obtained permission from the Lord of the Manor to sink the first well on the site for the convenience of visitors. Since then Visitors have been coming to Royal Tunbridge Wells to enjoy the healthy water of the Chalybeate Spring in 1606.
Over the subsequent years, the town grew in popularity and gained its reputation as the place to see and be seen. It became a favourite destination for fashionable society.
By the early nineteenth century Tunbridge Wells experienced growth as a place for the well-to-do to visit and make their homes. It became a fashionable resort town again following visits by the Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Other notable people include Daniel Defoe (famous for Robinson Crusoe) Samuel Pepys (Member of Parliament) Sir David Salomons, 1st Baronet (1st Jewish Lord Mayor of London, Fighting for Jewish rights) & Sarah Grand (writer & active in the local women’s suffrage societies)
Accommodation was needed, as they would have to camp on the Common and wanted places of entertainment such as coffee houses, gaming-rooms and an assembly room for dances and balls and in 1664, Lord Muskerry having acquired the Manor of Rusthall, improved access to the spring by building a new enclosure with an ornamental arch. In 1682 his widow sold the Manor to Thomas Neale, who negotiated an agreement with the Freeholders allowing him to build shops, lodgings and other facilities for visitors on a strip of the Common adjacent to the spring. After a fire in 1687, he constructed the colonnade which we now know as the Pantiles. The Freeholders received an annual payment in compensation for loss of grazing rights. In 1732, by which time the Manor had changed hands twice, a lawsuit broke out between Maurice Conyers, the new Lord, and the Freeholders over the question of continued compensation after Neale’s original agreement had expired. The Freeholders were successful in asserting their rights over the Pantiles site, and the resulting settlement was embodied in the Rusthall Manor Act of 1739.
In 1735 Beau Nash came on the scene and appointed himself as ‘Master of Ceremonies’ and there is a pub opposite the common, tucked down an alley, dating back to the 1800’s Originally called Royal Mount Ephraim, the pub was renamed in the early 20th, to Beau Nash (this has been known for its reports of Paranormal Activity over the years) As well as organizing entertainments on the Common, Pantiles and the Town area, Nash established strict rules for correct behaviour and continued til his death in 1761.
There are various houses scattered around the Common like:
BELLEVILLE— Built probably about 1840 on the site of an earlier cottage shown on Bowra’s map of 1738. William Thackeray describes a house on the Common near Rock Villa in which he stayed as a child in 1823; this has been identified with Belleville but may have been Gibraltar, the only one of the three rock built cottages at the apex of the Common known to have been used as a lodging house at that date.
BELLEVILLE— Built probably about 1840 on the site of an earlier cottage shown on Bowra’s map of 1738. William Thackeray describes a house on the Common near Rock Villa in which he stayed as a child in 1823; this has been identified with Belleville but may have been Gibraltar, the only one of the three rock built cottages at the apex of the Common known to have been used as a lodging house at that date.
FONTHILL — The present pavilion (which since 1993 has functioned as a live music venue known as The Forum) was built in 1939 by the Borough Council to provide ‘restrooms and general conveniences’ for locals and visitors enjoying the Common. It replaced a forge, coach builders’ workshop, and attached cottage (Fonthill House) dating from 1833. An earlier forge on the site is shown on Bowra’s map of 1738. This is said to be the site of the cottage occupied by Mrs Humphreys, who provided Lord North with a cup to drink from the chalybeate spring when he discovered it in 1606. The buildings on the edge of the Common east and west of Fonthill were from early times an untidy clutter of small cottages and rough working buildings: the present unattractive structures are in lineal descent. The present garage is on the site of the Kentish Stables, then belonging to the Royal Kentish Hotel opposite.
GIBRALTAR COTTAGE — Built as a lodging house between 1814 and 1824 on the site of an earlier and smaller cottage of the same name. It was occupied by members of the Tunbridge ware making family of Burrows from the 1820s to c.1845. Having fallen into decay, it was restored and altered in 1970-71. The name is an allusion to the rocks on which the cottage stands; in the past Gibraltar has been used as a general term for the rocky eastern apex of the Common. Until the mid-nineteenth century, a pond known as Parson’s Pond existed below the cottage alongside London Road.
MOUNT EDGCUMBE —
MOUNT EDGCUMBE —
A hillock named after Emma, Dowager Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, who spent the summers of 1795-7 in the town. The group of three buildings here appear as early as Bowra’s map of 1738. They were originally two lodging houses Mount Edgcumbe, now a Hotel, and Ephraim Lodge and a private house Mount Edgcumbe Cottage. The Arctic explorer Sir William Parry stayed at what is now the hotel in 1839.
SAINT HELENA — Built between 1828 and 1838 on the floor of a small stone quarry and used in early times as a lodging house. It replaced an earlier and much smaller cottage shown on Bowra’s map of 1738 and illustrated in a number of eighteenth and nineteenth century illustrations along with a second small structure to the north, on the other side of the rock. At the foot of the rocks a manhole cover marks the entrance to caves excavated for sand and open to the road until its level was raised in a controversial road levelling scheme carried out by the local Turnpike Trust in 1833. Residents complained that the loss of the caves spoilt the picturesque and much illustrated first view of the town which visitors saw as they traveled in from London. The caves were reopened at the outbreak of World War II to serve as air raid shelters.
Then we have the history of the roads in the area of the Common………
CASTLE ROAD — Possibly named after the Castle Tavern, opened between 1665 and 1670, which stood on Mount Ephraim between the junctions with Church Road and Castle Road. The building, no longer extant, was converted to a lodging house in the mid-eighteenth century. An alternative theory is that the tavern was named after Castle Rock (now Wellington Rocks).
MOUNT EDGCUMBE ROAD— Traditionally known as Donkey Drive, from which animals were hired for riding. This pastime was introduced in 1801, and enjoyed by Princess Victoria in the early 1830s, continuing into late Victorian times. The avenue of flowering cherries (King’s Avenue) was planted in March 1937 for the coronation of George VI.
MOUNT EDGCUMBE ROAD— Traditionally known as Donkey Drive, from which animals were hired for riding. This pastime was introduced in 1801, and enjoyed by Princess Victoria in the early 1830s, continuing into late Victorian times. The avenue of flowering cherries (King’s Avenue) was planted in March 1937 for the coronation of George VI.
The LOWER CRICKET GROUND was First used as a cricket pitch in the 1850s by the pupils of Romanoff House School. From 1860 it was the site of an annual bonfire on 5 November, and it was regularly used as a venue for civic celebrations of coronations and jubilees. It was leveled and railed in 1885-6. There was a Territorial Army encampment here in 1914. The original railings, along with those of the Higher Cricket Ground, were taken for the war effort in 1942
Then the rock, which have been discussed in several books over the years……
Well-known in Victorian and Edwardian times and a popular vantage point for views across the town. They were known to children of the mid-twentieth century as the Devil’s Dyke. A pond at the foot of the rocks was filled in in 1879. By the 1960s, the open grassy space in front of the rocks had become overgrown by scrub which obscured them completely, but the area was cleared in 1994-5.
Named after the Wellington Hotel. In earlier times they were variously described as the High Rocks on Mount Ephraim, or as Castle Rock (either named after the nearby Castle Tavern, or because of the shape of rocks’ highest point). Early nineteenth century guides report that “small transparent pebbles are found on the paths of the Common, especially after rain. These crystals are called Tunbridge Wells Diamonds, and, cut and polished, form brilliant additions to the jewel-case”. Small rounded pebbles can still be seen here today embedded in the sandstone, and it is presumably the most attractive of these, eroded out of the rock, which were once collected.
Within the Common there is the FIR TREE POND — A noted beauty spot in Victorian and Edwardian times, named from a pair of Scots pines (affectionately named Darby and Joan) with a seat around them which stood on top of the slope above. Having succumbed to old age, they were cut down in 1914 and replacements, still to be seen today, were planted. The pond is situated in a an extensive hollow described in 1957 as an ‘old quarry’. The pond was restored in 1992.
……..And then we have the old RACECOURSE which appears on Bowra’s map of 1738 and remained in use until 1851. Race meetings were held for two days each year, in August or September. The winning post, stand, and enclosure stood on the north side of the present HIGHER CRICKET GROUND. The Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria attended in 1834. In 1845 residents petitioned for the suppression of the races, on the grounds that they were a cause of drunkenness and riotous behaviour. After races ceased to be held, the course (apart from the section crossing the Cricket Ground) was preserved as a footpath and bridle-way and can still be followed today. and other heathland restoration is in progress.
In 1942, several pieces of land on both Commons had been requisitioned by the military for purposes which included the siting of anti-aircraft guns and searchlight emplacements. The Conservators complained vigorously about the hazards caused by the widespread presence of entrenchments and other concealed excavations, especially when a local resident was injured by falling into an unprotected gun pit.
On Sunday afternoon August 6,1944. George Gearing of Stanley Road, Tunbridge Wells, who was sitting in one of the thatched seats in the Common watching fighter planes overhead chasing two V1’s. Both of the V1’s had been shot down , one crashing at Pembury Road and one that came down near George Gearing. George was badly injured from the blast and later died in Hospital. George Gearing was age 75 when he died. His wife was Blanche Alice Gearing of 2 St Stephen’s Cottages, Stanley Road who he had married in the 1st Qtr of 1893 in Tunbridge Wells. The Kent & Sussex Courier of Friday August 3,1945 reported “ In Memorium: Gearing…In loving memory of my dear husband, George Gearing, who lost his life through enemy action in Tunbridge Wells on August 6,1944. Also of my only son, Frederick Gearing, killed in France August 4,1916…Sadly missed”. At the time of the 1911 census George was living with his wife and two children at 2 St Stephen’s Cottage. Among the children was his son Frederick, who had been born in Tunbridge Wells in 1895. George at that time was a stoker at the gas works and his son Frederick was a milk carrier. The brother of George’s wife was also living there as was his daughter 13 year old Alice. Frederick Gearing was killed in France August 6,1916 while serving with the Queen’s Own RWK Regiment 6th Btn (service No. G/9222). This shelter was located near the north west corner of the Commons .This site was formerly marked by a plaque but it appears to be gone now.
Hidden in the undergrowth north of the car park where the race course meets Fir Tree Road is the site of a small sandstone quarry, what accidents may have occurred there?
So steeped in such history, activity and deaths within just this area of Tunbridge wells over the centuries, It is no wonder, there are some ghostly sightings reported over the time………..
Tunbridge wells Common is said to be haunted by a couple of reported ghosts and one is of visitors to the common reporting about hearing a phantom female voice, calling out the name ‘Daniel’. The woman is never seen, but is thought to be a lady who was engaged to a soldier and feeling the loss of her loved one, killed in battle around 1917, she ran crying to the rocks, where they used to spend time or may have met and it is said she either fell to her death or jumped in grief from the nearby Wellington Rocks and she is heard calling his name in sorrow.
In 1969, It was reported by Kim Waller – a reporter for the local newspaper: Kim had been standing with a friend one evening, sheltering from the rain under some trees on the common, when they noticed what appeared to be 2 people walking closely together, were approaching them at about 50 yards away. As the form got closer, they realized the form was, in fact, one individual, tremendously broad around the middle and clothed in a long grey gown with what looked like frills at the bottom. The startled couple could not make out any limbs and just a dark shadow, where the head should have been. It grew closer and seemed to have stumbled, just a few yards away and squatted into a crouching position, where it remained for a few seconds, swaying and bobbing about and making a squelching sound, like someone wearing rubber boots, filled with water. As the men prepared to move towards the figure, it moved slowly away, the couple followed but soon it had disappeared with no trace or evidence it had been.
The Curator of the local museum was intrigued by the story and suggested that it could be the ghost of a local character and drunkard of the town, enormous Mary Jennings, she was about 30 years when she died in 1736. (I have not found a Birth/Death record that supports this fact) She was described by a contemporary as ‘not unlike a barrel’ ……….
……….and other stories of sightings of her, reported that she shouts at people in her drunken stupor, as they walk past.
But if you're planning an investigation….. Be warned of our Local Kent Bigfoot, has been seen lurking in the woods!
In 1969, It was reported by Kim Waller – a reporter for the local newspaper: Kim had been standing with a friend one evening, sheltering from the rain under some trees on the common, when they noticed what appeared to be 2 people walking closely together, were approaching them at about 50 yards away. As the form got closer, they realized the form was, in fact, one individual, tremendously broad around the middle and clothed in a long grey gown with what looked like frills at the bottom. The startled couple could not make out any limbs and just a dark shadow, where the head should have been. It grew closer and seemed to have stumbled, just a few yards away and squatted into a crouching position, where it remained for a few seconds, swaying and bobbing about and making a squelching sound, like someone wearing rubber boots, filled with water. As the men prepared to move towards the figure, it moved slowly away, the couple followed but soon it had disappeared with no trace or evidence it had been.
The Curator of the local museum was intrigued by the story and suggested that it could be the ghost of a local character and drunkard of the town, enormous Mary Jennings, she was about 30 years when she died in 1736. (I have not found a Birth/Death record that supports this fact) She was described by a contemporary as ‘not unlike a barrel’ ……….
……….and other stories of sightings of her, reported that she shouts at people in her drunken stupor, as they walk past.
But if you're planning an investigation….. Be warned of our Local Kent Bigfoot, has been seen lurking in the woods!
Til the next Blog……Haunted History of Tunbridge wells -Part 2 on the Pantiles…..Happy Hauntings!
References used: TW Commons Conservations – Ghosts of Kent – Peter Underwood – Paranormal Database – All about Tunbridge Wells
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