The county of Kent is home to the beautiful market town of Tonbridge. This quaint, lovable village is home to a mere thirty thousand citizens at the most. If you include the borough of Tonbridge and Malling into the mix, however, you've got a more appropriate population of over one hundred thousand. This town, no matter how you measure it, is blessed with some of the most fortuitous placement that any town can hope for. It sits comfortably on the River Medway, a flowing, live-giving source of nourishment that any town would be proud to sit upon. Tonbridge is also only twenty five miles or so from London, making a trip to the city for work or leisure a simple and enjoyable affair.
Tonbridge is in fact much older than many people would first suspect. The town is first mentioned in history in the 1000s, though it is referred to as "Tunbridge". All the same, this is most definitely the city we're thinking of and not long after its placement in the Domesday Book Tonbridge was the home of a castle erected by the cousin of William the Conqueror. This castle saw some middling combat from a few different forces but, by the 1200s, the castle was rebuilt into something worthy of Britain and it became the home of the much loved King Edward II. Old Eddie wasn't the only celebrity that would call Tonbridge Castle home, though: In time the fortress would be the vacation home of none other than Henry VIII.
The importance of the River Medway can also not be stressed enough. This river has been the lifeblood of Tonbridge in times of peace but also, and arguably more importantly, in times of war. Since the 1700s the Medway Navigation Company had been an integral part of the river, using it to ferry important materials like coal and limestone in and out of town while also allowing the shipment of war goods like gunpowder from the Medway to the Thames and beyond. Sadly, the company collapsed fully in the early years of the twentieth century although anybody visiting Tonbridge today can still see some of the remnants of the company if they look hard enough. Near the main bridge of the town, for instance, one can spot some of the wharves that once held employees and bosses of the Medway Navigation Company. The town of Tonbridge has been wonderful in its attempts to maintain the structural integrity of these classic monuments and it should be seen as a testament to Tonbridge's unerring dedication to its past that it has yet to let any of these relics turn into ruins. These days, the town is known best for its fine furniture craftsmanship. Tunbridgeware, the blanket term for the decorative cabinets and inlaid boxes made in the town, is a much treasured commodity all over Europe and people come to visit from all around just to snag one of these works of art. If you're lucky enough to pay a visit to Tonbridge, however, make sure you take a gander at the wharves and the river before you rush to the furniture store.
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