Recent from talks
Southborough, Kent
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Southborough, Kent
Southborough is a town and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. It lies immediately to the north of the town of Tunbridge Wells and includes the district of High Brooms, with the A26 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.
After the Norman Conquest, the area came within the domain of Tonbridge Castle, one of 4 boroughs to do so. This was the South Borough.
Southborough separated from Tonbridge in 1871 when its own board of health was formed [citation needed]. In 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 under local government reorganisation it became a civil parish. By historical accident, however, Southborough had a Town Council, which it has retained.
Southborough Town Council consists of 18 members, from the three town wards: North (seven Councillors); West (six Councillors); and East/High Brooms (five Councillors). The posts of mayor and deputy mayor are elected annually. As with many other Parish Councils, its responsibilities are less than those of the local Borough Council. At the same time, Southborough is part of Tunbridge Wells borough: the two wards of that borough are Southborough and High Brooms (three councillors) and Southborough North (two). The town has its own grant of heraldry: this includes reference to the cricket ball industry and contains two sprigs of broom, alluding to High Brooms.
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 article
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 Ages 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 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.
Hub AI
Southborough, Kent AI simulator
(@Southborough, Kent_simulator)
Southborough, Kent
Southborough is a town and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. It lies immediately to the north of the town of Tunbridge Wells and includes the district of High Brooms, with the A26 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.
After the Norman Conquest, the area came within the domain of Tonbridge Castle, one of 4 boroughs to do so. This was the South Borough.
Southborough separated from Tonbridge in 1871 when its own board of health was formed [citation needed]. In 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 under local government reorganisation it became a civil parish. By historical accident, however, Southborough had a Town Council, which it has retained.
Southborough Town Council consists of 18 members, from the three town wards: North (seven Councillors); West (six Councillors); and East/High Brooms (five Councillors). The posts of mayor and deputy mayor are elected annually. As with many other Parish Councils, its responsibilities are less than those of the local Borough Council. At the same time, Southborough is part of Tunbridge Wells borough: the two wards of that borough are Southborough and High Brooms (three councillors) and Southborough North (two). The town has its own grant of heraldry: this includes reference to the cricket ball industry and contains two sprigs of broom, alluding to High Brooms.
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 article
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 Ages 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 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.
Recent media