Rusthall, Kent

Historical Description

Rusthall, a chapelry in Speldhurst parish, Kent, 1 mile NW of Tunbridge Wells station on the L.B. & S.C.R. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office tinder Tunbridge Wells. Population, 3081. For parish council purposes Rusthall is partly within the borough of Tunbridge Wells and partly in the civil parish of Speldhurst. Dornden is a chief residence, and at one time was occupied by the Marquis of Lome. Rusthall Common is an extensive open waste studded with massive singularly shaped rocks, and one of these, called the Toad Rock, is a remarkable logan-like cluster, and commands a striking view. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury. Patron, the Rector of Speldhurst. The church is cruciform, and has a massive central tower. There is a Congregational chapel.

Maps

Online maps of Rusthall are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:

• Kent & Sussex Courier
• Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
• Dover Express
• Kentish Gazette
• Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
• Kentish Chronicle
• Maidstone Telegraph

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.