Tonbridge
According to Hasted 'Tonbridge' was known as 'Tunbryege' in Saxon times, and this means 'The town of bridges'.
In the Domesday Book (1086) and the Textus Roffensis (c.1125), 'Tonbridge' is written 'Tonebricg'. An earlier version would appear to date to c.975, where the name appears as 'Tonebriga'. There is uncertainty over whether this refers to the 'Town of Bridges' or to 'Tunna's Bridge'. An earlier derivation from the Celtic 'dun burgh' or 'burig' – referring to a hill fort is another possibility.
Over time, local landowners built fish weirs (often used for eels) and water-mills along the river. In 1600, the Commissioners of Sewers ordered that the weirs be removed, as they were a hindrance to vessels.
The changes to make the Medway navigable up to the town (c.1740) meant that lime and clay could now we transported to Tonbridge. As a result many houses began to be built using brick (from clay) and a lime-kiln was now established near to the Town Wharf – locally quarried chalk was used in the mortar for bricks . Most of the industries were built near to the river such as coal merchants, the gas works (C19th), and even the electricity works, at the beginning of the C20th, had its own branch canal which connected it to the river. The reason for this was simple – the river was used to transport raw materials and so the companies built as near to the river as possible to save having to then unload and tranport their goods all the way across town.
Man-made changes to the river further increased trade during the C19th. Pigots Trade Directory for 1840 (at Tonbridge) noted that there were regular weekly deliveries via the Medway up to London (on Tuesdays). This company had begun shipping goods from Tonbridge to London in 1828. Previously, (from 1807) the same company had shipped goods to Maidstone.
Carts transported flour down to the Town Quay to be shipped to Maidstone, while lime, stone, gravel and coal were shipped into Tonbridge.