page_title: Royal Tunbridge Wells
section_title: Public services
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Tunbridge Wells / Public services
caption_attribution_description: English: Library in Civic Way, Tunbridge Wells
context_page_description: Royal Tunbridge Wells, previously just Tunbridge Wells, is a town in western Kent, England, 30 miles south-east of central London, close to the border with East Sussex upon the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formations at the Wellington Rocks and High Rocks.
  The town came into being as a spa in the Restoration and enjoyed its heyday as a fashionable resort in the mid-1700s under Beau Nash when the Pantiles, and its chalybeate spring, attracted significant numbers of visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity as a spa town waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town remains highly popular and derives some 30 per cent of its income from the tourist industry.
  The town has a population of around 56,500, and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells.
context_section_description: Health services are provided by the West Kent Primary Care Trust. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust runs the new Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury (usually referred to as Pembury Hospital), nearly three miles (4.8 km) from the town, which opened in 2011.
  Royal Tunbridge Wells is policed by Kent Police, and in May 2000 the main police station for the area moved from Royal Tunbridge Wells to a new building in Tonbridge and operations at the Royal Tunbridge Wells station, in Crescent Road, were scaled back so that it now operates as an administrative centre. Fire services are carried out by Kent Fire and Rescue Service, which operates one station in Grove Hill Road that is manned 24 hours a day by both full-time and retained firefighters.
  The electricity Distribution Network Operator is UK Power Networks, and water services are managed by Southern Water; the main reservoir in the area is Bewl Water.
  The Kent and Sussex Crematorium and Cemetery opened in 1873, known initially as the Frant Forest Cemetery due to its location, laid out over 23 acres (9.3 ha) by the then town surveyor.
  Royal Tunbridge Wells also has a library, museum and art gallery in Civic Way.
caption: Tunbridge Wells Library, Museum and Art Gallery
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