A printable PDF version of this newsletter can be downloaded from HERE
From the chair
Many thanks to the 90 or so members who attended the Faversham Society’s AGM on Wednesday, 10 June, to approve our annual report and accounts, and to hear a talk by Nigel Morgan and Heather Knight about the history of Arden’s House.
My comments as the outgoing chair focused on the work done by the volunteers, who donate 2,500 hours of time every month to keep the society’s activities and services going – and by doing so,
they represent the best of our town.
The elections were uncontested as six candidates stood for six vacancies, with Hollie Brennan as the only candidate to be a new addition to the board of trustees. Jacqueline Spencer, who had already been co-opted to the board, was endorsed by the AGM. Jonathan Carey, Leigh Allison, Matthew Hatchell and Harold Goodwin were already serving members seeking re-election. Hollie brings professional experience in corporate governance and (relative) youth.
Leigh Allison and I were proud to be re-elected as vice chair and chair, respectively.
Regrettably, Andrew Holden, the treasurer, had decided to step down from the board after a year of excellent financial stewardship
I will come back to some of the themes raised when I introduce the annual report in later editions of the newsletter. There is already a lot to read in this one, and I’d like to focus on a very big ask.
Once again we need to mobilise everything we have to defend the Abbey Fields from being turned into a housing development. You can view the application online at www.swale.gov.uk/planningsearch using the planning application 26/501696/OUT.
Comments are requested before 25 June and the following is a summary our initial submission. Please feel free to use these arguments in your own comments. The developers and SBC will be hearing much more from us as the process proceeds.
Abbey Fields: the case against development
The Faversham Society objects strenuously to plans to the proposed plans to develop housing on the Abbey Fields site. Previous applications have failed repeatedly for reasons that will apply to this development.
In July 2023, Swale Borough Council issued notice of its refusal to grant planning permission on this site because: “The proposed development by virtue of its location outside the settlement boundary of Faversham is contrary to Policies ST3 and A20 of Bearing Fruits – the Swale Borough Local Plan 2017, and consequently gives rise to encroachment into, and urbanisation of, the countryside, together with the loss of best and most versatile agricultural land, contrary to the provisions of Policies DM24 and DM31 of the adopted Local Plan and paragraph 174 of the National Planning Policy Framework. It is therefore considered that these harms significantly and outweigh the benefits of additional housing.”
These reasons apply to the new proposal, as explained below. The Faversham Society, considers that the application should be refused:
1 The site has repeatedly been judged an unsuitable location for housing
- Development of the Abbey Fields site has been considered repeatedly through planning processes and has been consistently rejected.
- Earlier proposals for development on this land were dismissed in 2023.
- The site was omitted from the adopted Swale Local Plan (2008).
- It was not allocated in the Bearing Fruits Local Plan.
- It was later assessed through the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) process and again rejected for allocation.
- It is not allocated in the neighbourhood planning framework for Faversham.
2 Harm to the historic setting of Faversham
Abbey Fields indisputably forms part of the historic landscape setting of Faversham. The open land provides important views towards:
- St Mary of Charity Parish Church.
- The Abbey Barns.
- The creek and marshland landscape associated with Faversham’s origins as a port town.
The significance of Faversham’s heritage assets derives not only from the buildings themselves but from their relationship with the surrounding open countryside. Development would urbanise a landscape that has historically linked the town, the Abbey and the marshes.
3 Damage to landscape character and “sense of place”
Abbey Fields occupies one of the last undeveloped approaches to the town. Therefore, the development would:
- Damage the views across the fields that are fundamental to Faversham’s identity as a historic market town.
- Erode the distinction between town and countryside.
- Destroy a highly sensitive landscape that lacks strong boundaries to contain urban expansion.
- The housing development would permanently alter the character of the town’s northeastern setting.
4 Access and transport problems
Access to and from the site is one of the strongest objections in that:
- The only access is from Abbey Fields Road which is narrow, unadopted and has mixed public and private ownership.
- There is already limited capacity at the Abbey Fields Road/Whitstable Road junction and the development would make this situation very much worse;
- There are already serious concerns over congestion and air-quality on routes into the town centre and the development will exacerbate these concerns.
5 Ecological and environmental concerns
The site sits close to sensitive habitats and includes areas valued for wildlife. Concerns include:
- Proximity of the site to a local wildlife site.
- Connections to nearby protected habitats and marshland ecosystems.
- Impacts on birds, bats, barn owls and other species;
- Loss of agricultural land;
- Flood-risk concerns associated with low-lying land near the creek and marshes.
- Development of this site will fragment ecological corridors and diminish one of the major green spaces that connects the town to the wider countryside.
6 Lack of demonstrable need
Abbey Fields is not needed to meet Faversham’s housing requirement because:
- Swale has already allocated substantial housing elsewhere around Faversham.
- More sustainable sites have been identified and are being developed.
- Abbey Fields offers no unique planning benefit that outweighs its harms.
- The core strategic argument Abbey Fields has repeatedly been examined through public planning inquiries and site-assessment processes and has been consistently found to be a less sustainable and more harmful location than alternative sites. The proposal therefore conflicts with the long-established planning strategy for Faversham while causing substantial harm to the town’s historic setting, landscape character, ecology and transport network.
- Abbey Fields has been tested repeatedly through plan-making, site assessment, and inquiry processes.
- It has consistently been identified as less sustainable and more harmful than alternative locations.
In conclusion
The proposal represents a clear case of speculative development on an unallocated, constrained and sensitive site. It must not happen!
Night at the museum
Don’t miss out on your chance to join us for a costumed experience at the Fleur de Lis Museum on 23 June. There are just a few spaces left for this fun evening.
Lively talks will be given by four characters from history as you make your way round the museum. Wine, beer and nibbles are included with the price of your ticket. It’s £5 for members and £10 for non-members.
Booking is required – either in advance at the Visitor Information Centre at 12 Market Place or via our website on the address below.
25 gardens to open
The brochures you need to visit the 25 gardens open on Sunday, 28 June, are available NOW from the Visitor Information Centre.
Each brochure includes a map and information about all the open gardens. You will need to show it to gain entry. It tells you which gardens allow dogs, have disabled access and sell teas.
The brochures will be available to buy on the day from the Open Garden stall in the market and the Visitor Information Centre. Priced £8 for one or £15 for two, that works out at a bargain 32p a garden!
Proceeds from the brochure sales are going to the National Garden Scheme, which supports many national charities. There will, of course, be a garden market and the proceeds from this will support the Abbey Physic Garden. Thank you to all the Faversham Society members who are opening their gardens this year.
We are opening the Fleur de Lis Georgian garden again this year. A new planting scheme, based on the plants noted by Edward Jacob in 1677, is taking shape and looking lovely. Also, excitingly, the garden of Arden’s House will be open this year. As well as the large garden, you’ll get a whole new perspective on the house. Thanks go to our tour guides who will be on hand to tell people the history of the house, as a free bonus on their garden visit.
Gunpowder mill reopens after facelift
Chart Gunpowder Mill reopened on 13 June after its facelift. The ribbon was pulled by mayor of Faversham, Claire Martin, whose family has a long association with this important industry.
A crowd of more than 70 people came to view the improvements, which have been carried out by a small team over the past few months. We were especially pleased to welcome long-term guides Rod Morley and Richard Parris-Piper, together with Sheila Breeze and Dorothy Percival.
Dot told us the story of how her husband Arthur, one of the society’s founders, rediscovered the forgotten mill when it was in an almost jungle-like state in the late 1960s.
John Breeze was a dedicated volunteer who spent huge amounts of time researching the lives of the gunpowder workers. This is all available to search online at the Gunpowder Workers’ Database. See the link at the end.
We were very relieved to know that all four thoroughly approved of the changes and additions we’ve made. I’d like to express huge thanks to Penny, Tony, Bob, Ian, Tess and Rob for all their hard work. The Chart Mill will be now be open on Saturdays from 2pm to 4pm until September. Do go along and have a look for yourselves and learn the story of Faversham’s past links to gunpowder.
Tracing the Westbrook
From the Source of the Westbrook to the Sea is the subject of an exhibition running from 16 to 19 September as part of Open Faversham.
Faversham is here because of the creek and the chalk streams that run through our town. The route of the Westbrook – from just below Painters Forstal to Stonebridge Pond, into the creek and on to the Swale – will be displayed in maps down the aisle of St Mary of Charity parish church.
The Faversham Society is kindly providing the maps and hopefully a range of small displays illustrating and celebrating the contemporary, cultural, built, industrial and natural heritage of our waterway will illustrate the maps.
The Maison Dieu, Lorenden, Water Lane and the osiers who crafted baskets, the Chart Gunpowder Mill, Pollocks shipyard and industry on the banks of Faversham Creek, Thorn Creek, the marshes and the barges and raft races: there is so much that is special about our town and its waterway.
There is still a chance for you to organise a event around these themes: for example, talks, guided walks or hosted visits to places of particular interest. These additional events and activities can be publicised on the Open Faversham website.
Full details are available on our website at Open Faversham
Oyster fishery map talk ends our season
Our first season wrapped up with the final talk, Jason Mazzocchi’s detailed examination of the Faversham Oyster Fishery Maps.
Three maps are in existence, each slightly different, and about a metre wide.They date from about 1620, made the time of an inquiry into the boundaries of Faversham manor and boundaries of the hundred of Faversham.
Jason pointed out the differences between the three versions and the importance of such early representations of not only the coastline, but the main buildings, including the parish church and Davington Priory. You can view them close up for yourself at the Charter Museum website on the address below. Our talks programme has now ended until September. We’ve already started on a lineup for 2026-27 so watch this space.
Apologies for the sound issues that we have encountered and we hope things have improved now. Believe us, we’ve tried every feasible option.
Thanks to everyone who has come along and supported the talks, we hope you’ve found them interesting and it’s nice to see regular faces. Also, thanks to Victoria, Lucy, Jane and Ann for their hard work and giving up their time to make them happen. See you in September!
Society pioneer Dr Sheila Doak dies aged 97
Sheila and Jim Doak moved from Blackheath to Faversham in 1962 attracted by the availability of historic properties in Abbey Street where the huge restoration scheme was in full-swing.
They bought Arden’s House, completed the first round of work that had been done and continued to keep it well maintained during their residency. They went on to restore Arden’s Cottage, next door, for Jim’s mother and then Sheila’s parents and her aunt bought properties along near them as well.
Jim and Sheila were both at the inaugural meeting of the Faversham Society in the guildhall where the first committee of what Andrew Osborne called “the awkward squad” was elected.
Jim Doak was the first chairman and Sheila was heavily involved in the activities that followed. The early committee meetings were in the front room of Arden’s House, scene of the infamous murder. High feelings, however, were directed only at anyone plotting to lay waste anything further in the town in the way that some properties had already fallen to the bulldozer. A stance that was seen as against modern planning trends of the time, hence “awkward”. The huge open fireplace smoked a lot but did not obscure the firm resolve of those present.
Sheila was a distinguished scientist in the field of cancer research with a PhD thesis on immunological responses following irradiation and continued to publish in scientific journals in the following years.
She worked at the Chester Beatty Research Institute, then at Shell Research Centre in Sittingbourne. The centre shut in the 1990s but when Sheila had to leave Arden’s House she was in a good position to support herself and her son Rory.
After a low period in her personal life, followed by serious illness, she bought a lovely little house in Church Street, made an attractive and welcoming home there, set up a working microscope room and did medical slide analysis until well into her eighties.
One of Sheila’s many perceptive qualities was knowing exactly what her strengths were and using them to benefit a breathtaking list of organisations in the town. She once told me that she didn’t see herself as artistic or creative but much liked to “sort out and help”other people who were and she certainly did that.
She was a fantastic organiser and at various times, alongside working and domestic life she chaired committees for the music club and the Arden Theatre and was involved with Christian Aid, a school parent-teacher association, Oare String Orchestra and the Kent Countryside Productions box office, where she wasn’t happy – one member told me – until ticket sales tallied to the last penny. Whatever she touched was left in good order.
In the Faversham Music Club she organised coach trips to the Barbican Concert Hall, a chore that I always think deserves a medal. The welcome sight of that coach as we emerged from the hall to the dreary road outside was wonderful indeed. She persuaded Trevor Pinnock, the Teynham-based world-famous harpsichordist and conductor, to become president, a huge boost to the club’s standing. Her Church Street house was near the concert venue at that time and she often fed and offered a pre-concert rest or overnight stay to visiting performers
St Catherine’s Church, Preston, was central to Sheila’s life and she served as a churchwarden, a 1st Faversham Scout Group Cub leader and a successful fundraiser.
Her personality was one of great positive cheerfulness and that simple but invaluable quality of generous kindness from which so many benefited.
At her funeral three of her god-daughters gave a wonderfully affectionate tribute to Sheila – who died aged 97 – as an impressive professional, a person of huge energy who liked to be busy, and someone who gave great love to them, her family and her friends. They could not resist mentioning her cooking of course, in particular the shortbread and thousands of fundraising jars of every sort of jam. Oh, and the jigsaws of huge complexity always spread out on a table somewhere in the house where we were allowed to do one piece if we were clever enough.
The early days of the Faversham Society would certainly not been so successful without her contribution.
Our explosive past
Faversham was once the centre of England’s explosives industry and you can now join a series of guided walks through more than 350 years of its history.
They start from the Visitor Information Centre at 12 Market Place at 2pm on 5 July, 2 August and 13 September.
Walkers will explore the historic Chart Mills, learn how gunpowder was made, and hear the dramatic story of the Great Explosion of 1916, when tons of TNT ignited, killing 108 men, and how it affected the town.
Booking is required – either at the VIC or at the address below.
Summer strolling
After what has probably been the coldest, wettest build-up to summer on record, we at the Faversham Society guided walks are now ready to enjoy the longer, warmer days with our usual programme of summer evening strolls.
We have a variety of themes and routes to tempt you, whether you want to learn more about a different aspect of Faversham’s heritage or just want to soak up some town atmosphere at the end of a long working day.
So join us - once or more than once - and make the very best of your membership! Full details on the events page of the website very soon.
Fleur stewards needed
There have been a couple of occasions when we’ve not been able to open the Fleur de Lis Museum. We really need more stewards to keep the museum open.
It’s now open Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and some Sundays when events are on. We’d like to also open on Tuesdays in the school holidays, if possible.
The museum is a valuable free resource for the town and the children’s trails and craft activities are very popular.
If you could spare a few hours (11am-3pm) on a regular, or an ad-hoc, basis, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact the email address below for more information.
The costume department of the museum is also looking for some help. An interest in fashions of the past and knowledge of domestic linens would be useful. Some general knowledge of history would help but being a good all-rounder is more important – we are not the V&A!
We are very lucky to have some beautiful garments deposited with us and we do our best to take the greatest care of them.
The costume collection is stored in the attic, so it would suit someone who is able to climb steep stairs. Usual shifts are between 10 and 1pm.
That’s speedy enough: 20’s plenty in Ospringe Street
Residents of Ospringe Street are mounting a campaign to improve safety on the section of the A2 on the southern edge of Faversham.
While residents and supportive councillors have raised concerns about noise, air pollution and excessive vehicle speeds along Ospringe Street for many years, Kent County Council Highways, which is responsible for managing the road, has consistently resisted taking remedial action. This has been due, at least in part, to a general reluctance to introduce 20mph limits on A roads, particularly those carrying freight traffic.
Residents are tired of the status quo and are campaigning for change.
Reducing speeds to 20mph has been proven to improve road safety and air quality. This is particularly important on Ospringe Street, which lies within an Air Quality Management Area and continues to experience poor air quality.
The narrow pavements, combined with the braking and acceleration of vehicles, create an intimidating environment for pedestrians. Collisions involving buildings occur far too often and remain a major concern for residents, putting both people and the village’s historic properties at risk. Daily journeys to and from Ospringe Primary School, with many children and parents crossing the road at multiple points each day, add to the risk.
Ospringe is also a designated conservation area, recognised for its historic significance and many Grade II listed buildings, including the Maison Dieu, a wayside hospital dating to the 13th century. This rich heritage deserves protection. While reducing the speed limit would help lower the risk of collisions, further consideration must also be given to the frequency and size of freight vehicles using the route, many of which are already too large to pass one another comfortably at this pinch point.
Fortunately, there are recent precedents elsewhere in Kent. In the village of Newington, west of Sittingbourne, the section of the A2 passing through the village is now subject to a 20mph limit. Combined with the well-established town-wide 20mph limit throughout Faversham, this leaves Ospringe Street as a clear outlier.
Now is the time for residents’ concerns to be taken seriously and for proactive action to be taken to reduce the speed limit on Ospringe Street.
Faversham Town Council supports this proposal and has committed to seek opportunities to incorporate Ospringe Street into wider active travel plans for the town.
Please lend your support by signing our petition at the address below.
Autumn at the Alex
I appreciate this notification is a long time in advance of the events but I’m aware most of us will be spread by wind and sun to various climes during July and August and you may want to make a note of these forthcoming events at the Alexander Centre in the autumn so as not to miss them.
6 October. Lee Hall, playwright. Lee Hall is an acclaimed English playwright, screenwriter, and lyricist and former pupil of mine. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1966, he is best known for writing the screenplay and musical for Billy Elliot. Hall’s work – spanning theatre, film, and radio – frequently explores working-class culture, regional identity, and the transformative power of art.
8 October. The School that Escaped the Nazis. Join acclaimed historian and author Deborah Cadbury for a compelling talk based on her celebrated book, The School that Escaped the Nazis. In 1933, as Hitler rose to power, German schoolteacher Anna Essinger recognised the growing danger facing her Jewish pupils and undertook an extraordinary act of courage: secretly moving her entire school from Germany to safety in Kent. There, at Bunce Court School, Otterden, she created a sanctuary for refugee children fleeing Nazi persecution and war. Drawing on first-hand testimony, letters, diaries, and extensive original research, Deborah brings this remarkable true story vividly to life – a moving account of compassion, resilience, and humanity in one of history’s darkest periods.
20 October. Jeff Lowe Sculpture. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne but now living in Kent with a studio in The Mall, Faversham, Jeff Lowe is known for his monumental, architecturally inspired works. His sculpture demonstrates an intense engagement with material, surface and design. A student of “the New Generation” of British sculptors that emerged in the 1960s, Lowe studied at the Saint Martin’s School of Art between 1971 and 1975, under the tutelage of William Tucker, Philip King and Anthony Caro. As such, he inherited the New Generation’s experimentation of industrial materials, along with an interest in releasing the sculpture from the confines of the plinth so that it could inhabit the viewer’s personal space.