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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Royal Tunbridge Wells
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(60,000 in 1991) Resort town in Kent, in hilly countryside, which became fashionable after a chalybeate spring was discovered in 1606. Its heyday was after the Restoration; the church of King Charles the Martyr with its magnificent plaster ceiling dates from that period (1676–8). From 1735 Beau *Nash was in charge here as well as in Bath. The colonnaded street leading to the spring (where the water can still be drunk) is called the Pantiles because it was paved with tiles in 1700. The museum has a good collection of the local *Tunbridge ware. In 1909 *Edward VII allowed the town to become Royal Tunbridge Wells, but the prefix is rarely used.
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