Tunbridge, or TONBRIDGE, a market-town of Kent, 29½ miles SE. of London, stands on the Medway, which here divides into six streams, one of them called the Tun. A castle, originally Norman, but largely rebuilt in 1280-1300, and held successively by Fitz-Gilberts, De Clares, Andleys, and Staffords, retains a fine Early Decorated gate-house. The parish church, also Decorated in style, was almost rebuilt in 1878; and the grammar-school, founded in 1553 by Lord Mayor Sir Andrew Judd, occupies handsome new buildings of 1865. Remodelled in 1880, it has a rich endowment of £5500 a year, and over 300 boys; Sir Sidney Smith was an alumnus. The manufacture of toys, boxes, and other articles in 'Tunbridge ware' (a kind of wood mosaic in veneer) is a specialty. Pop. (1861) 5919; (1891) 10,123.
See works by T. P. Fleming (1865) and, on the school, by S. Rivington (1869).