It's official. The Trinity Theatre is the best theatre and arts venue in Kent.

The theatre housed in the converted Holy Trinity Church in Tunbridge Wells has come top of a poll of users of the lifestyle blog Muddy Stilettos 2019 Awards.

The building was designed by the renowned Victorian architect Decimus Burton and built in 1827 at a cost of £10,591.

But when in 1974, the Church Commissioners deemed the building ‘redundant to pastoral needs’, the church was left empty.

The Tunbridge Wells Civic Society took on the mantle of finding a new community use for the building and after raising £50,000, the theatre was created in 1977.

With seating for only 291 people, the theatre is a minnow compared with Kent's other theatres such as the Marlow in Canterbury (1200), or the Orchard in Dartford (956), or even the Assembly Halls only a few hundred yards away in Tunbridge Wells which seats 993. But audiences seem to appreciate the Trinity's intimate atmosphere.

The theatre has a constantly changing programme that includes theatre, film school productions and art exhibition.

Last month, it announced a campaign to raise £1.5m to transform the theatre into a heritage attraction to include a museum and the opening of the the old church clock tower to visitors to give a view over Tunbridge Wells.

Key to the scheme is a plan to open the clock-tower to the public and to provide a viewing platform for visitors to look out across the town.

Muddy Stilettos was founded in 2011 as a way for journalist Hero Brown (Independent on Sunday, The Observer, Red, Marie Claire, Elle) to find out what there was to do in her new home in Buckinghamshire ater moving out of London.

Catch-lined "the urban guide to the countryside, the blog now reviews restaurants, pubs, theatres and days out across 21 counties, including Kent.

The Muddy Stilettos Awards are now in their seventh year, with voters chosing the Trinity as the best theatre and arts venue in Kent.