Special Topics
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This study area is bounded by lower West Street, Stonebridge Pond, Faversham Creek and North Lane. The paper draws upon archaeological excavations carried out by FSARG and others, surveys, and the large archive of maps and photographs at the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre in Faversham, on such stalwarts as Swaine’s 1969 survey of historic buildings in Faversham, the knowledge of experts in Faversham history and local residents with long memories.
This is a support document for the third season of Preston: a Most Peculiar Parish and discusses what is probably the best known of all the famous roads built under the Roman occupation of Britannia. It is the road used by William the Conqueror after the battle of Hastings when he worked his way along the coast to Dover and turned left for London. Chaucer's Pilgrims travelled along it from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St Thomas Becket. Watling Street came to be called the Great Dover Road in the 18th- early 19th century. Canterbury and London still have roads called Watling Street. So, what is there left to find out you may say? Then read on…
In 2012, FSARG conducted a desktop and non-intrusive field survey, with the aim of collating information to construct a chronological narrative of the area now known as the St Ann’s estate, and in doing so, to identify possible areas for future investigation. The area of research lies along the path of the Westbrook Valley, to the south and east of the Davington plateau.. The area has seen a number of development phases over the years including possible Medieval watermills, gunpowder manufacturing, a stately home, watercress beds, and the current housing estate.
This is a paper on the study of the Westbrook Valley. The Westbrook stream is considered by historians as being the most important factor in the development of Faversham. Archaeologically, there is abundant evidence for Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement in the immediate area, and the Westbrook is crossed by Watling Street at Ospringe. Work by FSARG has identified many areas of prehistoric activity in the Westbrook valley, with finds dating to the Lower Palaeolithic period. The aim of this project was to build on the work done so far and complete a detailed portrait of the Westbrook valley, including Faversham Creek.
This is a look back over the first 5 five years of community archaeology in Faversham carried out by FSARG. This report describes the findings from the 40 keyhole trenches excavated during this period, together with photographs of excavations, and of some of the items found. “800 years of leather”: the tanneries of Tanners Street is an example of one of the excavations. It was carried out in the garden of Our Lady of Carmel and includes a photograph of the large animal bone assemblage found. There are also useful sections on how to identify Tyler Hill pottery (which dates to the medieval period), and early English clay tobacco pipes.