Sherwood (Tunbridge Wells) (1)

Locality
Coordinate	51.1403, 0.2892
Adm. div.	Kent
Vicinity	N of Pembury Road in Tunbridge Wells
Type	Natural feature
Interest	Miscellaneous
Status	Extant
First Record	1897
A.k.a.	Sherwood Park

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Sherwood in Tunbridge Wells.

Sherwood seen from the residential street named Sherwood Park, in Tunbridge Wells / Google Earth Street View.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2020-11-10. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-02-13.

'Sherwood' is first recorded in 1897 as the name of a wooded area near Badgers Holt and contiguous with Greggs Wood, in the north-eastern part of Tunbridge Wells. Subsequently the name came to refer to a neighbourhood, including Greggs Wood and the residential area to the west of it.

The earliest source known to IRHB is a 25" O.S. map of the area published in 1897 (see Maps below). On maps dating from 1909 to c. 1950, the variant 'Sherwood Park' is found. On all the early O.S. maps listed below, the name is used with the original, more restrictive reference. While there is no indication that 'Sherwood', as applied to the wooded area or the neighbourhood, refers to Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire qua habitat of Robin Hood, it probably inspired the name of the Robin Hood pub on the corner of Birken and Sandhurst Roads as well as that of Friars Way. It is also quite productive as a place-name element, included in the names of several local establishments, businesses and thoroughfares.

Gazetteers

• Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-311.

Maps

• 25" O.S. map Kent LX.12 (c. 1873; sueveyed 1866-68). No copy in NLS
• 25" O.S. map Kent LX.8 (1897; rev. 1895) (georeferenced); 'Sherwood'
• 25" O.S. map Kent LX.12 (1897; rev. 1895); 'Sherwood'
• 25" O.S. map Kent LX.12 (1909; rev. 1907); 'Sherwood Park'
• 25" O.S. map Kent LX.12 (1945; rev. 1936–37); 'Sherwood Park'
• 6" O.S. map Kent LX (1872; surveyed 1868–69); not indicated or labelled
• 6" O.S. map Sussex VII (1878; surveyed 1873); not indicated or labelled
• 6" O.S. map Kent LX.SE (1898; rev. 1895) (georeferenced); 'Sherwood'
• 6" O.S. map Kent LX.SE (1898; rev. 1895); 'Sherwood'
• 6" O.S. map Kent LX.SE & LXIXA.NE (1899; rev. 1895); 'Sherwood'
• 6" O.S. map Kent LX.SE & LXIXA.NE (1910; rev. 1907); 'Sherwood Park'
• 6" O.S. map Kent LX.SE & LXIXA.NE (c. 1946; rev. 1938); 'Sherwood Park'
• 6" O.S. map Kent LX.SE & LXIXA.NE (c. 1950; rev. 1936–47); 'Sherwood Park'.

Background

• Wikipedia: Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Also see

• Tunbridge Wells place-name cluster
• Places named after Sherwood Forest.

 Kent place-names 

 Place-names