Royal Tunbridge Wells to have been granted this (the others being Royal Leamington Spa and Royal Wootton Bassett). Although "Wells" has a plural form, it refers to the principal source, the chalybeate spring in the Pantiles (where the "waters" were taken). Royal Tunbridge Wells is the administrative centre for both Tunbridge Wells Borough and the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. The Borough is governed by 48 Councillors, representing 20 wards (eight wards fall within the town of Tunbridge Wells itself). Elections are held for 16 Council seats each year on a rotational basis, with elections to Kent County Council taking place in the
Church of King Charles the Martyr, Royal Tunbridge Wells 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. When it was built, the church was the first substantial building constructed in Tunbridge Wells. The church had no resident vicar until 1709, and relied on visiting clergymen to conduct services. 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