The ‘local larder’ right on our doorstep

By David Wakefield

The makers of our local Tunbridge Ware found the raw materials for their trade in the very woods that surround the town – perhaps on The Commons themselves.

They needed small pieces of stained wood to give them the palette of colours that went into the various boxes, writing slopes, paper weights etc, which were collectively are known as “toys”, to be sold as souvenirs to visitors to the Town. The colours come from either the natural colour of the  wood, or from the staining effect on wood of our local chalybeate water. Thus we have, besides the normal blacks and browns, reds, greens and yellows – enough to make up a full range of colours.

Trees were not grown specially for the purpose, but instead windfalls, twigs, and scraps of wood with the right colouring and shape would be looked for, picked up and brought in to the workshops of the Town. Found just a few days ago on Hargate Forest, the piece below illustrates perfectly the kind of wood that was used.

You can read more about this fascinating subject in “The Story of Tunbridge Ware”, produced by the Friends of the Museum and on sale in the Museum at just £4.95.

Do you have any Tunbridge Ware at home? Send us your pictures and we’ll post them here.