Church of King Charles the Martyr, Royal Tunbridge Wells
{{Short description|Church in Kent, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox church
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|fullname = Church of King Charles the Martyr
|image = King Charles the Martyr's Church, Mount Sion, Tunbridge Wells.JPG
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|osgraw = TQ 58197 38810
|location = Royal Tunbridge Wells
|country = England
|denomination = Church of England
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|founded date = 1676
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|dedication = King Charles the Martyr
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|cult = King Charles the Martyr
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|people = Thomas Neale
|status = parish church
|functional status = Active
|heritage designation = Grade I
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|architect = Thomas Neale
|architectural type = Chapel
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|materials = Red brick
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|deanery = Tunbridge Wells
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|diocese = Rochester
|province = Canterbury
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The Church of King Charles the Martyr is a Church of England parish church in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
History
In the 1670s, Tunbridge Wells had few permanent structures when it started to receive visits from members of the English Royal Family. The church was built on land belonging to Viscountess Purbeck as a chapel of ease for those visiting The Pantiles and was opened in 1676 after being constructed by Thomas Neale.{{NHLE|num=1084478 |desc=THE CHURCH OF KING CHARLES THE MARTYR |access-date=2013-03-01}} It was dedicated to King Charles the Martyr: the cult of Charles I, who was executed in 1649 and whose son Charles II had been restored in 1660. While it was a chapel of ease, it served the parishes of Frant, Speldhurst and Tonbridge.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=051-p371e&cid=0#0 |title=TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KING CHARLES THE MARTYR PARISH RECORDS |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=2013-03-01}}
When it was built, the church was the first substantial building constructed in Tunbridge Wells.{{cite press release |url=http://www2.tunbridgewells.gov.uk/pdf/PP_SPG_RTW_CAA_7.pdf |title=Mount Sion and the High Street |publisher=Tunbridge Wells Borough Council |access-date=2013-03-01 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120902133614/http%3A//www2.tunbridgewells.gov.uk/pdf/PP_SPG_RTW_CAA_7.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-02 |url-status=dead }} The church had no resident vicar until 1709, and relied on visiting clergymen to conduct services.{{cite book | first =Andrew | last =Lacey | title = The Cult of King Charles the Martyr| publisher = Boydell & Brewer| year = 2003| isbn = 0851159222| page = 167}} As Tunbridge Wells expanded, so did the church. After new parishes were created for the expanding town, the position of the chapel became an anomaly and it eventually became itself a parish church in 1889, but with an unusually small parochial area. It had been visited by the young Queen Victoria with her mother the Duchess of Kent, and a plaque was installed to commemorate this on the pew they sat in.
Design
File:Church of king charles the martyr.JPG
The church was built using red bricks. The ceilings inside are made of plaster with five domes and were designed in 1678 by John Wetherell. In 1688, Henry Doogood, the chief plasterer of Sir Christopher Wren, expanded it.{{cite web|url=http://kent.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/spotlight-on-tunbridge-wells-26914/ |title=Spotlight on Tunbridge Wells |publisher=Great British Life |access-date=2013-03-01}} In 1846, a vestry and a schoolroom was added. In 1882, Ewan Christian re-orientated the church while adding a chancel and reinforcing the church with steel. The panels either side of the altar in the new chancel came from a demolished church designed by Christopher Wren, St. Antholin, Budge Row, in the City of London.John Newman, West Kent and the Weald, Penguin Buildings of England, 1969
File:The old boundary stone, Tunbridge Wells - geograph.org.uk - 1056934.jpg
Outside the church is a stone set into the pavement which marked the parish boundaries of Speldhurst, Tonbridge and Frant, and also of Kent and Sussex before the county boundaries were redrawn.{{cite web|author=United Kingdom |url=http://www.geolocation.ws/v/W/File%3AThe%20old%20boundary%20stone,%20Tunbridge%20Wells%20-%20geograph.org.uk%20-%201056934.jpg/-/en |title=The old boundary stone, Tunbridge Wells |publisher=Geolocation |access-date=2013-03-01}}
In 1969, Lawrence Lee produced The Ruth Window, a small two-light window with the figure of Ruth in one light and her work - gleaning in the fields - in the other.Contemporary Stained Glass Artists: A Selection of Artists WorldWide, by Kate Baden Fuller, 2006 ({{ISBN|07136 54287}}). Page 33
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|King Charles the Martyr Church, Tunbridge Wells}}
- [http://kcmtw.org/ Parish of Church of King Charles the Martyr, Royal Tunbridge Wells website]
- [http://kcmtw.org/heritage/architecture/ Architecture of King Charles the Martyr Church]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunbridge Wells, Church of King Charles the Martyr}}
Category:Grade I listed churches in Kent
Category:Church of England church buildings in Kent
Church of King Charles the Martyr
Category:English churches dedicated to King Charles the Martyr