=Alternative Route.=--Train from Victoria, Holborn Viaduct, and St.
Paul's. South-Eastern and Chatham Railway.
At the same time that Epsom began to become known as a watering-place,
Tunbridge Wells was rapidly growing into a famous inland resort. The
wells were discovered by Lord North in 1606, while he was staying at
Eridge, and in a few years Tunbridge Wells became the resort of the
monied and leisured classes of London and other parts of the kingdom.
From that time to this the town has been one of the most popular of
England's inland watering-places.
The Tunbridge Wells of to-day is a charming and picturesque town. "The
Pantiles," with its row of stately limes in the centre and the colonnade
in front of its shops, is unique among English towns. Readers of
Thackeray's _Virginians_ will remember his description of the scene on
the Pantiles in the time of powdered wigs, silver buckles, and the
fearful and wonderful "hoop."
At the end of the Pantiles is the red brick church of
King-Charles-the-Martyr, the only one with any claim to antiquity in the
town; the rest are all quite modern.
Walks and excursions around Tunbridge Wells are numerous. The common,
with its mixture of springy turf, golden gorse, with here and there a
bold group of rocks, is one of the most beautiful in the home counties,
and in whatever direction one wanders there are long views over
far-stretching wooded hills and dales.
Rusthall Common, about a mile from the town, though somewhat smaller
than that of Tunbridge Wells, commands more extensive views.
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