Tunbridge Ware

In the grounds of Tonbridge School there is this sundial to George Wise of Tunbridge who made Tunbridge Ware. Tunbridge Ware is the name for a range of ornate wooden items with intricate wooden mosaic patterns.  Because the name of the town Tunbridge was changed (by the GPO) to Tonbridge in the 1870s to distinguish it from its newer but more famous sister Tunbridge Wells, people these days think that Tunbridge Ware comes from Tunbridge Wells and indeed there is a display of it in Tunbridge Wells museum.  But it originated in Tonbridge. George Wise(1703- 1779) had a factory on the Medway in the middle of the town here from the 1740s. and this sundial was placed  in his memory in 1906.   Picture of the sundial with the backdrop of Tonbridge School chapel in extras