6 June 5, 2022The Sunday Times
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WIN FRIENDS AND
AFFLUENT
PEOPLE
Why Tunbridge Wells is the UK’s retirement
hotspot. Jane Slade visits the chichi Kent town
Below: the
developer behind
Wildernesse
Estate in
Sevenoaks,
below and right,
is targeting
Tunbridge Wells.
Left: Barbara and
William Apted,
who live in
Willicombe
Park, TN2, the
first village that
Audley builtWe used to go to
London, but we
don’t have to.
Tunbridge Wells
is much friendlierGREG BALFOUR EVANS/ALAMY; GRANT FRAZERT
he bunting has
been billowing
across the Pantiles
in Tunbridge Wells
for weeks in
preparation for the jubilee.
There’s a tea shop displaying
a cardboard cut-out Queen.
After all this is Royal
Tunbridge Wells. The prefix
dates to 1909, when Edward
VII granted the town its regal
moniker to celebrate its
popularity among members
of his family. Since then it has
been a haven for the smart
set and bastion of Middle
England, as reflected in
the phrase “Disgusted of
Tunbridge Wells”, the
supposed favourite
pseudonym of people writing
letters to newspapers to
express outrage at the erosion
of conservative values. So
perhaps it is no wonder that
TN1 has become a target for
high-end housebuilders and
retirement operators.
Expect to see more coiffed
older ladies weaving in and
out of the trendy boutiques
in the Pantiles, a Georgian
colonnade of white façades
peppered with plaques, coats
of arms and elaborate crests.
And particularly now the town
has an Ivy restaurant, which
has delighted the celebrity
cook Rosemary Shrager, 71.
“I love their aviation
cocktails,” she enthuses from
her home in Wadhurst, a town
just outside Tunbridge Wells.
“We also have a Fenwick, and
the department store Hoopers
is like Harrods,” she booms.
Shrager admits properties
are expensive but the
attractions are that Tunbridge
Wells feels safe, rural and is
not so fast-paced as London.
“People are genuine and
friendly,” she adds. “And if you
live in the town centre you
don’t need a car.”
Despite her cookery school
in the Pantiles being forced to
close during lockdown, she
has many irons in the fire.
She has just written her
second crime novel, launched
a range of pies in pubs and
farm shops, and is about to
open a cookery school in
nearby Maidstone.
She also hopes to visit
the new retirement villages
to give talks and cooking
demonstrations. She is
assured plenty of choice.
Beechcroft plans to build
a scheme of 40 one and two-
bedroom apartments opposite
Tunbridge Wells Common, a
short walk from the railway
station. Completion is set for
2024 and prices will start from
a lofty £600,000.
Elysian Residences, which
has just launched the 24-acre
Wildernesse Estate, which
will total 76 apartments and
eight mews houses up the
road in Sevenoaks, is poised to
build a further 89 apartments
on a one-acre site in the
centre of Tunbridge Wells.
Homeowners will have
balconies, landscaped
gardens, terraces, a gym, a
library and a restaurant.
“You don’t have to sell
Tunbridge Wells,” says Gavin
Stein, chief executive of
Elysian Residences. “It has a
vibrancy and historic charm.
Tunbridge Wells is a match for
our projects, which reflect a
fresh way of living.”Willicombe Park was the
first Audley village that Nick
Sanderson, its CEO, built after
he established the high-end
retirement operator more
than 20 years ago. There are
now 20 Audley villages.
“The popularity of
Tunbridge Wells comes as no
surprise to me,” he says. “I
grew up in the area and have a
long-held affection for that
part of Kent. It’s one of the
main reasons I opened
Willicombe Park.”
The village has 67 flats, a
swimming pool and four acres
of gardens. In nearby Wealden,
Inspired Villages has been
given permission to develop
a 9.5-acre site opposite the
£1,700 a year Nevill Golf Club.
The £100 million retirement
community for over-65s will
have 146 homes and work will
start in the summer. Jamie
Bunce, the chief executive,
hopes Inspired’s scheme will
benefit local businesses.
“The restaurant, communal
facilities and wellness centre
at our village will be open to
the local community,” he says.
He is also giving colleagues
three “give-back days” so they
can volunteer locally.
The Retirement Villages
Group, which is owned by
AXA Investment Managers,
has plans to regenerate the
former ABC cinema site. It has
been derelict for more than
two decades and will be
redeveloped into 150-180
apartments starting at
£500,000, with a café,
restaurant and spa open to the