Tonbridge Conservation Area Walk
This short walk takes us around the centre of the town’s conservation area, the oldest part of Tonbridge.
Start the walk at the gatehouse to the Castle. The main entrance way to the Castle originally followed Bank Street to join the High Street. The first castle here was built shortly after the Norman invasion of 1066. The gatehouse you see today dates from the 13th Century when the lords who owned the castle were some of the most important people in the country.
Ogilby’s Map 1776
Bank Street & Medieval Tonbridge
Head to the Old Fire Station by following the path to the car park and then turn right alongside the crenelated wall to the right. This is the centre of the original town built up by the Normans, with a market here until the 13th Century. The Warners solicitors office building is deceptively old!
Further reading
Fire fighting in Tonbridge
Development of medieval Tonbridge (Jeremy Haslam)
Tonbridge Castle and its Lords (JF Wadmore, 1886)
Warners / Poor House
Bank Street archaeological dig
High Street & Church
Walk to the end of the Bank Street to where it meets the High Street. In front of you, on the east side of the road, are a range of notable 18th and 19th Century buildings, as well as some less distinguished newer replacements. To the left, past 180 High Street (formerly Warners solicitors), is Blair House (“IML”), at heart a 15th Century building saved by the Civic Society in the 1970s.
Cross the road, and turn left down Church Lane. In front of you is the Norman church (with multiple later additions). To the left are Tygers Head and Church House.
Further reading
Tonbridge timeline
A walk through the High Street in 1896
180 High Street
Tonbridge Civic Society guide to design award winners
History of the Parish Church
East Street & Lyons Crescent
At the church, turn right (south) down the path and walk along Church Street. Notice the houses to the right, and the white house in front, on East Street. Port Reeve’s House is likely the town’s oldest house. Warders is on East Street, beyond Lyons Crescent. The Hermitage is the name of the timber-framed weatherboarded house on the left side of East Street.
Turn right along Lyons Crescent. The Catholic Church is to the right. Modern housing faces the river, replacing industrial sites.
Further reading
In Austen family footsteps
Port Reeve’s House
Warders history
Henry Cooper funeral in Lyons Crescent
Catholic Church
The Big Bridge and the Market
Walk to the end of Lyons Crescent and cross the road. This bridge, built in the 1880s, was part of a redevelopment that also saw the buildings on either side knocked down and replaced by today’s Pizza Express and Verdigris. For more than 500 years the town wardens funded bridges and other public works in Tonbridge.
Walk up the High Street, past Chequers pub and its equally notable neighbour, to the Market House. This was the market area of Tonbridge for many centuries after it moved from Bank Street/Castle Street, as indicated by the widening of the pavement and the cattle trough. And this marks the end of our short, historical walk.
Further reading
Picture of Market Cross
A Seventeenth-Century Market Town: Tonbridge
Town Lands and wardens 1574-1760