Early history Faversham was established as a settlement before the
Roman conquest of Britain. The Romans established several towns in Kent including Faversham, with traffic through the
Saxon Shore ports of
Reculver,
Richborough,
Dover and
Lympne converging on Canterbury before heading up
Watling Street to London. The town was less than from Canterbury, and consequently Faversham had become established on this road network by 50 AD following the initial conquest by
Claudius in 43 AD. Numerous remains of Roman buildings have been discovered in and around Faversham, including under St Mary of Charity Church where coins and urns were discovered during reconstruction of the western tower in 1794. In 2013, the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman theatre, able to accommodate some 12,000 people, were discovered at a hillside near the town. The cockpit-style outdoor auditorium, the first of its kind found in Britain, was a style the Romans used elsewhere in their empire on the Continent. There is archaeological evidence to suggest that Faversham was a summer capital for the Saxon
kings of Kent. It was held in
royal demesne in 811, and is further cited in a charter granted by
Coenwulf, the King of Mercia. Coenwulf described the town as 'the King's little town of Fefresham', while it was recorded in the
Domesday Book as
Favreshant. The town had established itself as a seaport by the
Middle Ages, and became part of the Confederation of the
Cinque Ports in the 13th century, providing a vessel to
Dover. The
Gough Map of Britain, printed in 1360, shows
the Swale as an important shipping channel for trade.
Middle Ages, Tudors and Stuarts , sketched by
William Stukeley in 1722, was established by
King Stephen in 1148. He was buried there in 1154. The
manor was recorded as
Terra Regis, meaning it was part of the ancient royal estates.
King Stephen gave it to his chief lieutenant,
William of Ypres, but soon made him swap it with Lillechurch (now
Higham) so that the manor of Faversham could form part of the endowment of
Faversham Abbey. Stephen established the abbey in 1148, and is buried there with his consort
Matilda of Boulogne, and his son,
Eustace, the Count of Boulogne. Stephen favoured the town because of the abbey, and so it was historically important during his reign. Abbey Street was constructed about this time in order to provide an appropriate approach to the abbey from the town. It still houses timber-framed buildings and has been described as "the finest medieval street in southeast England".
Thomas Culpeper was granted Faversham Abbey by
Henry VIII during the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. Most of the abbey was demolished, and the remains of Stephen were rumoured to have been thrown into Faversham Creek. An excavation of the abbey in 1964 uncovered the empty graves. In 1539, the ground upon which the abbey had stood, along with nearby land, passed to Sir
Thomas Cheney,
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Among the few surviving buildings of Faversham Abbey are the two barns at Abbey Farm. Minor Barn was built about 1425; Major Barn, the larger of the two, dates from 1476. Next to the barns is the Abbey Farmhouse, part of which dates from the 14th century. The Abbey Guest house, on the east side of the Abbey's Outer Gateway, has survived as Arden's House. This house, now a private residence in Abbey Street, was the location of the murder of
Thomas Arden in 1551. The
Faversham Almshouses were founded and endowed by Thomas Manfield in 1614, with additional houses built by Henry Wright in 1823. The poor quality of roads in the Middle Ages meant travel by sea was an important transport corridor.
Richard Tylman (or Tillman), mayor in 1581, expanded the port at Faversham, building two wharfs. He became a key figure in exporting corn, wheat and malt to London from the town. Several notable people in the Middle Ages had origins in Faversham.
Haymo of Faversham was born in Faversham and later moved to Paris to join the
Franciscans, becoming the "Aristotelian of Aristotelians".
Simon of Faversham was born in the town in the middle of the 13th century and later became
Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 1304. The notorious
pirate Jack Ward is believed to have been born in Faversham about 1553.
John Wilson,
lutenist and teacher was born in Faversham in 1595 who was the principal
composer for the
King's Men and a professor of music at Oxford. There is now a plaque at the site of the house in Abbey Street where he was born. Faversham also had notable visitors during this period.
Queen Mary and
King Philip visited the town in July 1557 en route to Dover.
Queen Elizabeth I visited Faversham in September 1573 during a summer tour of Kent, accompanied by
Lord Burghley, the Lord Treasurer.
Charles II passed the town on his way from Dover to London, on his way to be crowned.
Explosives industry A
gunpowder plant had been established around 1573 in Faversham. The town had a stream which could be dammed at intervals to provide power for watermills. By the 19th century, the site stretched for around a mile along the waterfront. The first production of
guncotton took place in the Marsh Works in 1847. Due to a lack of experience with production methods, an explosion took place soon after work started, with several fatalities. On Sunday 2 April 1916, an explosion occurred at one of the Swale factories in Uplees after sparks from a chimney ignited the works containing around 150 tonnes of high explosives. The incident killed over 100 people, which led to decline of the explosives industry in the town. The town is now a harbour and market community; old sail-powered
Thames barges are repaired, rebuilt and moored along the creekside.
Industrial Revolution and beyond Kent is the centre of
hop-growing in England, being centred on nearby Canterbury and Faversham has been the home of several breweries. The
Shepherd Neame Brewery was officially founded in 1698, though brewing activities in Faversham pre-date this. The brewery claims to be the oldest in Britain and continues to be family-owned. The Rigden brewery was founded in the early 18th century by Edward Rigden. It subsequently merged with the Canterbury-based George Beer in 1922 to become George Beer & Rigden before being purchased by the
Maidstone based
Fremlin's.
Whitbread bought out Fremlin's in 1967, and closed the Faversham brewery in 1990. The site is now a
Tesco superstore. Shepherd Neame remains a significant regional brewer despite a decline in consumption of traditional bitter beer, producing around 230,000 barrels a year. It now also makes
India Pale Ale under licence.
Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Neame, recipient of the
Victoria Cross, was born in Faversham and a memorial to him was placed in the town centre in 2014. A shipyard was established in Faversham by James Pollock & Sons (Shipbuilders) in 1916 at the request of Lord Fisher, the First Lord of The Admiralty, for manufacturing
barges for
landing craft. Faversham already had a tradition of shipbuilding, and it soon became a major contributor to markets throughout the world, producing vessels such as the Molliette and the Violette, both constructed of concrete. Over 1200 ships were built and launched from Faversham between 1916 and 1969. Faversham Market is still held in the town centre. It is now the oldest street market in Kent, dating back over 900 years. Monthly markets are also held in Preston Street and Court Street. Having been an important thoroughfare since the 12th century, Abbey Street went into decline around the start of the 20th. Local people began a determined fight to restore and preserve the area. In 2009 Faversham Society Archaeology Research Group (FSARG) uncovered evidence of the town's medieval tannery in the back gardens of Tanner Street. Evidence of Anglo-Saxon occupation was discovered during the Hunt the Saxons project between 2005 and 2007 and a high-status rubbish pit excavated in the "Searching for the Kings Manor" project in 2017–2019. ==Government==