Southborough, Kent
Encyclopedia
Southborough civil parish
, with the title of town in the District of Tunbridge Wells, in Kent
, England
. It lies immediately to the north of Tunbridge Wells
itself, with the A26 London road
passing through it. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 11,124. The town is within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
.
, the area came within the domain of Tonbridge Castle
, one of four boroughs to do so. This was the South Borough.
in 1871 when its own board of health was formed . From then, until 1894, it was recreated to become an urban district
, with its own elected council to manage its affairs. It retained that title until 1974, when local government reorganisation reverted its title to a civil parish
. By historical accident, however, Southborough had a town council, which it has retained.
The Southborough Town Council consists of 18 members, from the three town wards: North (seven councillors); West (six); and East (five). The posts of mayor
and deputy mayor are elected annually. As with a normal civil parish, its responsibilities are less than those of the borough. The town has its own grant of heraldry: they include reference to the cricket ball industry, and contain two sprigs of broom, alluding to High Brooms.
At the same time, Southborough is part of Tunbridge Wells borough: the three wards of that borough are Southborough and High Brooms (five councillors); Southborough North (seven); and Southborough West (six).
The remains of an Iguanodon
(135 million years ago) was discovered in High Brooms. Before the first millennium AD the land here was heavily forested; however some significant finds have revealed that it was inhabited. Arrowheads and stone axe heads provide evidence of ‘’’prehistoric’’’ habitation of Southborough while burial sites from both the Bronze
and Iron Age
s have also been unearthed. The site of the Castle Hill Iron Age Fort, dating back to 315 BC, lies in the Eastern valley. Routes linking other forts are still part of the town’s road network. Little is then known about the district until the Norman Conquest as it was the most sparsely populated part of the Weald
due to the almost impenetrable forest.
Richard Fitz Gilbert
(later de Clare) was rewarded for his part in the conquest with land; one such grant was the Lowey of Tunbridge
, an area of land equating with the holdings of a manor
, which covered some 20,660 acres (8347h) on the Weald and across the River Medway
valley. He was also granted the right to build a castle at Tonbridge.
The Manor of Southborough was one part of the Lowey. Over the following seven hundred years it had a chequered history. After Richard de Clare, it was held by the Audley and Stafford families until 1521, when Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
, was beheaded on Tower Hill
and the estates reverted to the Crown. Henry VIII
gave the (now separated from Tonbridge) estate to George Boleyn, brother of Anne Boleyn
, whose fate he also suffered. It was then passed to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who later exchanged it for other estates. Under Elizabeth I
it had again reverted back to the Crown: she bestowed it on Sir Richard Sackville who sold it to Thomas Smythe of Westernhanger. He was commonly known as Customer Smythe
, a “farmer” of the collection of customs and excise dues. In 1790 when Lady Smythe died the Manor was split up and sold; the Manor House of Great Bounds and the Manorial rights being purchased by the Earl of Darnley who in turn parted with it to James Alexander.
The whole area was part of the Royal forest
of Southfrith until about the middle of the 16th century, reserved by royalty for hunting. The settlement consisted of a number of isolated hamlets including Nonsuch Green, Holden Corner, Modest Corner and a few houses near the Common. High Brooms was a desolate tract inhabited by Romany Gypsies, very many of Kent's population today will have Gypsy heritage - whether they choose to admit this is another matter.
From 1639, lodging houses appeared in Southborough to accommodate visitors to the newly-discovered chalybeate
spring at The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells. During the reign of King Charles I
, the Cavalier
faction tended to stay at Southborough, whilst nearby Rusthall
tended to attract visitors from the Roundhead
(puritan
) faction.
of the Hastings Beds which make up the Weald) provided the raw material. From the mid-16th century onwards there were a number of water-powered furnaces on the two streams running through the town: one at Modest Corner; and three on the Southborough Bourne. The latter included the Vauxhall Furnace, operating from at least 1552, near Mote Farm in in what is now Vauxhall Lane: and the Brook (Broakes) Mill opened in 1553. The rock was dug from “bell pits”, and iron smelted here was worked at a forge nearby.
The forges probably continued working until the 18th century when the making of iron became uneconomical and in 1771 the sites was taken over for gunpowder
manufacturing hence the name Powder Mill Lane. The mill blew up shortly afterwards but was replaced and continued manufacturing gunpowder. By 1845 a cornmill had been erected on the site, which continued in operation until 1942 when it was demolished. There are now no traces of any industrial workings on the site.
Apart from that heavy industrial employment, people in Southborough were mainly occupied in agriculture, textiles and transport: trades such as blacksmith
s, coachbuilder
s and harness makers
.
With cricket
being played on the common, it is perhaps logical that the town became renowned for the manufacture of cricket ball
s. The first recorded makers were Philip Wickham and Joseph Smith of Modest Corner and many other cricket ball makers set up business including Thomas Twort and John Martin in 1853.
Southborough began to expand rapidly from 1879 when the Holden Estate was sold and laid out to accommodate 165 new dwellings. The High Brooms Brick and Tile Company started to build houses for its employees and the area expanded: it is now an industrial estate.
In 2003 the whole area of the Common - a conservation area - was the subject of an appraisal by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. The appraisal report seeks to retain the historical significance of the Common and its immediate area.
Cricket
has been played on the Common for over 200 years.
with the town of Lambersart
, France
. The Twinning Charter signed by both towns formally resolved to honour the twinning relationship by establishing and maintaining friendly relations with each other, to foster and develop mutual understanding and respect between the people of their respective administrative areas, to favour all kinds of links between the two regions especially in the educational and cultural fields, to encourage exchange visits and to develop human and cultural relationships ad establish a firm foundation for future understanding, respect and friendship their people for all time. To celebrate five years of twinning on 18 October 1997 Lambersart Close on the new Barnetts Wood housing estate was officially unveiled followed by a reception at the Salomons Estate.
Ridgewaye F.C. formed in 1995. It is the largest youth organisation in Southborough having 320 members in 2011. It has been an FA Charter Standard Development Club for the past eight years [since January 2003] . The membership consists of boys and girls aged from six to eighteen years of age who train of Saturday mornings at the Ridgewaye fields, off Yew Tree Road, Southborough.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
, with the title of town in the District of Tunbridge Wells, in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It lies immediately to the north of Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
itself, with the A26 London road
A26 road
For the road in Northern Ireland see A26 road The A26 road is one of the three cross-country two-digit numbered roads in the southeast of England, the others being the A25 road and A27 road. It carries traffic from Maidstone in Kent in a generally south-westerly direction to Tunbridge Wells and...
passing through it. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 11,124. The town is within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
High Weald AONB
The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is situated in south-east England. Covering an area of , it extends across the counties of Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent. It is the fourth largest Area of Outstanding Beauty in England and Wales...
.
Origin of name
After the Norman ConquestNorman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
, the area came within the domain of Tonbridge Castle
Tonbridge Castle
Tonbridge Castle is situated in the town of the same name, Kent, England.-Early history:Following the Norman Conquest, Richard Fitz Gilbert was granted land in Kent to guard the crossing of the River Medway. He erected a simple Motte-and-bailey castle on the site. To dig the moat and erect the...
, one of four boroughs to do so. This was the South Borough.
Governance
Southborough separated from TonbridgeTonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
in 1871 when its own board of health was formed . From then, until 1894, it was recreated to become an urban district
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
, with its own elected council to manage its affairs. It retained that title until 1974, when local government reorganisation reverted its title to a civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
. By historical accident, however, Southborough had a town council, which it has retained.
The Southborough Town Council consists of 18 members, from the three town wards: North (seven councillors); West (six); and East (five). The posts of mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and deputy mayor are elected annually. As with a normal civil parish, its responsibilities are less than those of the borough. The town has its own grant of heraldry: they include reference to the cricket ball industry, and contain two sprigs of broom, alluding to High Brooms.
At the same time, Southborough is part of Tunbridge Wells borough: the three wards of that borough are Southborough and High Brooms (five councillors); Southborough North (seven); and Southborough West (six).
History
The Southborough Society’’ (“the civic, heritage and amenity society for Southborough”) is the main source for many of the facts in this part of the articleThe remains of an Iguanodon
Iguanodon
Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...
(135 million years ago) was discovered in High Brooms. Before the first millennium AD the land here was heavily forested; however some significant finds have revealed that it was inhabited. Arrowheads and stone axe heads provide evidence of ‘’’prehistoric’’’ habitation of Southborough while burial sites from both the Bronze
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
s have also been unearthed. The site of the Castle Hill Iron Age Fort, dating back to 315 BC, lies in the Eastern valley. Routes linking other forts are still part of the town’s road network. Little is then known about the district until the Norman Conquest as it was the most sparsely populated part of the Weald
Weald
The Weald is the name given to an area in South East England situated between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It should be regarded as three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre; the clay "Low Weald" periphery; and the Greensand Ridge which...
due to the almost impenetrable forest.
Richard Fitz Gilbert
Richard Fitz Gilbert
Richard fitz Gilbert , was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman conquest of England in 1066. He was also known as "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and "de Tonbridge".-Biography:...
(later de Clare) was rewarded for his part in the conquest with land; one such grant was the Lowey of Tunbridge
Lowey of Tonbridge
The Lowey of Tonbridge is the name given to the large tract of land given to Richard Fitz Gilbert in West Kent, England by William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings as a reward for his assistance in winning the battle. Richard was a cousin of William's with both being descended from...
, an area of land equating with the holdings of a manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
, which covered some 20,660 acres (8347h) on the Weald and across the River Medway
River Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
valley. He was also granted the right to build a castle at Tonbridge.
The Manor of Southborough was one part of the Lowey. Over the following seven hundred years it had a chequered history. After Richard de Clare, it was held by the Audley and Stafford families until 1521, when Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, KG was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and the former Lady Catherine Woodville, daughter of the 1st Earl Rivers and sister-in-law of King Edward IV.-Early life:Stafford was born at Brecknock Castle in Wales...
, was beheaded on Tower Hill
Tower Hill
Tower Hill is an elevated spot northwest of the Tower of London, just outside the limits of the City of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formerly it was part of the Tower Liberty under the direct administrative control of Tower...
and the estates reverted to the Crown. Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
gave the (now separated from Tonbridge) estate to George Boleyn, brother of Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
, whose fate he also suffered. It was then passed to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who later exchanged it for other estates. Under Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
it had again reverted back to the Crown: she bestowed it on Sir Richard Sackville who sold it to Thomas Smythe of Westernhanger. He was commonly known as Customer Smythe
Customer Smythe
Thomas "Customer" Smythe was the collector of customs duties in London during the Tudor period. His son and namesake Sir Thomas Smythe was an active supporter of the Virginia colony.-Early life:...
, a “farmer” of the collection of customs and excise dues. In 1790 when Lady Smythe died the Manor was split up and sold; the Manor House of Great Bounds and the Manorial rights being purchased by the Earl of Darnley who in turn parted with it to James Alexander.
The whole area was part of the Royal forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
of Southfrith until about the middle of the 16th century, reserved by royalty for hunting. The settlement consisted of a number of isolated hamlets including Nonsuch Green, Holden Corner, Modest Corner and a few houses near the Common. High Brooms was a desolate tract inhabited by Romany Gypsies, very many of Kent's population today will have Gypsy heritage - whether they choose to admit this is another matter.
From 1639, lodging houses appeared in Southborough to accommodate visitors to the newly-discovered chalybeate
Chalybeate
Chalybeate waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.-Name:The word "chalybeate" is derived from the Latin word for steel, "chalybs", which follows from the Greek word "khalups"...
spring at The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells. During the reign of King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, the Cavalier
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
faction tended to stay at Southborough, whilst nearby Rusthall
Rusthall
Rusthall is a village located approximately 2 miles to the west of the spa town of Tunbridge Wells in Kent. The village grew up around a large property called "Rusthall" located on the Rusthall Common en route to the neighbouring village of Langton Green....
tended to attract visitors from the Roundhead
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
(puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
) faction.
Industrial Southborough
Iron had been worked in the area since prehistoric times, since the underlying rock (the iron-rich sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
of the Hastings Beds which make up the Weald) provided the raw material. From the mid-16th century onwards there were a number of water-powered furnaces on the two streams running through the town: one at Modest Corner; and three on the Southborough Bourne. The latter included the Vauxhall Furnace, operating from at least 1552, near Mote Farm in in what is now Vauxhall Lane: and the Brook (Broakes) Mill opened in 1553. The rock was dug from “bell pits”, and iron smelted here was worked at a forge nearby.
The forges probably continued working until the 18th century when the making of iron became uneconomical and in 1771 the sites was taken over for gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
manufacturing hence the name Powder Mill Lane. The mill blew up shortly afterwards but was replaced and continued manufacturing gunpowder. By 1845 a cornmill had been erected on the site, which continued in operation until 1942 when it was demolished. There are now no traces of any industrial workings on the site.
Apart from that heavy industrial employment, people in Southborough were mainly occupied in agriculture, textiles and transport: trades such as blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
s, coachbuilder
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...
s and harness makers
Horse harness
A horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equine to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon or sleigh. Harnesses may also be used to hitch animals to other loads such as a plow or canal boat....
.
With cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
being played on the common, it is perhaps logical that the town became renowned for the manufacture of cricket ball
Cricket ball
A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...
s. The first recorded makers were Philip Wickham and Joseph Smith of Modest Corner and many other cricket ball makers set up business including Thomas Twort and John Martin in 1853.
Southborough began to expand rapidly from 1879 when the Holden Estate was sold and laid out to accommodate 165 new dwellings. The High Brooms Brick and Tile Company started to build houses for its employees and the area expanded: it is now an industrial estate.
Southborough Common
The Common of Southborough (now owned by the Town Council) has always been part of the Manorial Holding. It was originally around 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) larger but between 1790 and 1810 portions were enclosed so that the total area now is 71 acres (287,327.1 m²). Under the Commons Registration Act of 1965 a number of persons registered their rights as Commoners.In 2003 the whole area of the Common - a conservation area - was the subject of an appraisal by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. The appraisal report seeks to retain the historical significance of the Common and its immediate area.
Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
has been played on the Common for over 200 years.
Twinning
On 18 October 1992 Southborough twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with the town of Lambersart
Lambersart
Lambersart is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.This commune is in the extreme north bordering Belgium. It is located in the metropolitan Urban Community of Lille Métropole, and is a suburb of the city of Lille, bordering it on its northwest side.Inhabitants of the town are called...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The Twinning Charter signed by both towns formally resolved to honour the twinning relationship by establishing and maintaining friendly relations with each other, to foster and develop mutual understanding and respect between the people of their respective administrative areas, to favour all kinds of links between the two regions especially in the educational and cultural fields, to encourage exchange visits and to develop human and cultural relationships ad establish a firm foundation for future understanding, respect and friendship their people for all time. To celebrate five years of twinning on 18 October 1997 Lambersart Close on the new Barnetts Wood housing estate was officially unveiled followed by a reception at the Salomons Estate.
Sport
Southborough has long been associated with sport. Cricket has been played on the common for over 200 years, as well as being a centre for cricket ball manufacture. Southborough has three football clubs, the largest of these is Ridgewaye FC.Ridgewaye F.C. formed in 1995. It is the largest youth organisation in Southborough having 320 members in 2011. It has been an FA Charter Standard Development Club for the past eight years [since January 2003] . The membership consists of boys and girls aged from six to eighteen years of age who train of Saturday mornings at the Ridgewaye fields, off Yew Tree Road, Southborough.