The Port Reeves House

The Port Reeves House is the oldest house in Tonbridge but the weather was so horrible today I could not do the house justice. I took this photo to remind me to find out  what a port reeve was- there is/was  no port in Tonbridge - we are too far from the sea .

 I discover that the house dates from the 1200s when Tonbridge was enclosed by a wall. The house was next to a gate in the wall and the port reeve was the town official who levied tolls on the stock and commodities passing through the "port" - gate.