A snapshot of Southborough
The earliest known inhabitant of Southborough lived around 135 million years ago. The partial skeleton of an iguanodon was found in the clay of the old brick company in High Brooms and thus part of Southborough is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
As a town Southborough has developed only gradually. As late as the fifteenth century, documentary evidence shows it was an area of farmsteads and hamlets. Southborough did not in fact become a parish in its own right until 1830.
Southborough earned
notoriety in the year 1450, when the Constable of
Southborough, along with “all the people of the town”,
was pardoned for taking part in the Jack Cade
rebellion against King Henry VI. It then found fame
for its splendid mansions (sadly many no longer stand)
as it became an area for holiday accommodation, when
the chalybeate spring at the Wells of Tunbridge (now
Tunbridge Wells) became a “health spa”. Charles II’s
Queen Catherine stayed at Bounds in Southborough for
thirteen weeks in 1663.
Famous citizens of Southborough include the philanthropist Salomons family – soldiers, dignatories and inventors. The Salomons Museum can be
visited at the former
family home on the Broomhill estate to the south of
the parish. The museum houses a unique Welte
Philharmonic organ and from time to time concerts can
be attended. The famous architect Decimus Burton was
brought up at Mabledon House at the northern border of
the parish. Many of his impressive buildings and
monuments are to be seen today, primarily in a number
of towns across south-east England, including nearby
Tunbridge Wells.
The earliest known inhabitant of Southborough lived around 135 million years ago. The partial skeleton of an iguanodon was found in the clay of the old brick company in High Brooms and thus part of Southborough is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
As a town Southborough has developed only gradually. As late as the fifteenth century, documentary evidence shows it was an area of farmsteads and hamlets. Southborough did not in fact become a parish in its own right until 1830.
Southborough earned
notoriety in the year 1450, when the Constable of
Southborough, along with “all the people of the town”,
was pardoned for taking part in the Jack Cade
rebellion against King Henry VI. It then found fame
for its splendid mansions (sadly many no longer stand)
as it became an area for holiday accommodation, when
the chalybeate spring at the Wells of Tunbridge (now
Tunbridge Wells) became a “health spa”. Charles II’s
Queen Catherine stayed at Bounds in Southborough for
thirteen weeks in 1663.
Famous citizens of Southborough include the philanthropist Salomons family – soldiers, dignatories and inventors. The Salomons Museum can be
visited at the former
family home on the Broomhill estate to the south of
the parish. The museum houses a unique Welte
Philharmonic organ and from time to time concerts can
be attended. The famous architect Decimus Burton was
brought up at Mabledon House at the northern border of
the parish. Many of his impressive buildings and
monuments are to be seen today, primarily in a number
of towns across south-east England, including nearby
Tunbridge Wells.