![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/kenthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/445\/2017\/07\/2blog_CustomHouse_Faversham-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Custom House, Faversham<\/p>\n
Perhaps not surprisingly considering the strength of local history and archaeology in the town, the meeting room at the Faversham Society\u2019s Fleur-de-Lis building was very full when the meeting began with Harold\u2019s resume covering TS Hazard\u2019s recent history. He then handed over the baton to the town\u2019s historian Dr John Owen who spoke about the range of borough, county and national records available which cover Faversham\u2019s trading history through the ages, among other topics. John was very keen to point out that even though Faversham had been a market town from way before the Norman Conquest, it was the creek and thus shipping and other activities that had been the town\u2019s life\u2019s blood for centuries. Indeed, it is only in the last few decades that this symbiotic relationship with the sea (estuary) has been broken with the loss of almost all of the carrying trade to road and rail, if it happens at all. For many current Faversham residents and visitors it is the market place and Guildhall that is the \u2018centre\u2019 of town, the creek having become a very poor second.<\/p>\n
Yet, as John highlighted, Faversham\u2019s role as a supplier to London can be traced back centuries, for example agricultural produce \u2013 wheat, barley, malt, and from the early 14th<\/sup> century wool that came from Romney Marsh via Ashford to be shipped up to London. Faversham as a malt-producing and shipping town was extremely important, and in the 17th<\/sup> century the town was home to 17 maltsters. Not that everything was destined for London, and oysters were shipped to the Netherlands as well, but London did take much of the gunpowder and construction materials \u2013 bricks and cement, made locally. In addition, some goods passed through Faversham\u2019s \u2018hands\u2019, including commodities such as cheese from Ipswich in the 17th<\/sup> century, and stone from Portland and the Channel Islands.<\/p>\n Finds from archaeological excavations – Faversham creek (thanks to the Faversham Society Archaeological Group).<\/p>\n John next described the town\u2019s demographic history before turning to the town\u2019s two quays, known from the 16th<\/sup> century, the first reference to the town\u2019s two cranes coming from the 1420s. As he said most is known about \u2018The Quay\u2019, which was in private hands until it was presented to the town by Henry Hatch, entrepreneur, mayor and leading citizen. In contrast, the Standard Quay, although often said to be part of Faversham Abbey\u2019s property portfolio, is not mentioned in the Valor<\/em>, which suggests it was insignificant until apparently acquired by Thomas Arden in the mid 16th<\/sup> century, who met a grisly end in his own house \u2013 see the Elizabethan play, some of which is now thought to have been penned by William Shakespeare. About a century later it was acquired by the Sondes family who equally saw its commercial value, the leasing of quays a \u2018good money-spinner\u2019 in towns where trade was king.<\/p>\n Nor was it just the lessors and lessees who benefitted from Faversham\u2019s trading networks, and perhaps a third of the population owed its livelihood to the creek in one form or another \u2013 fishermen, mariners, hoy men, various labourers, those making ropes, carpenters etc. Even though much of what might be called this unregulated trade escaped recording in the archives, Faversham is fortunate that among the surviving records there are Port Books (a source deployed by Dr Stephen Hipkin, a former head of the Centre, now retired, in his study of the early modern grain trade), the earliest (accounted with Sandwich) dating from the early 14th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n Abbey Street, Faversham<\/p>\n Having thanked John for this fascinating and useful summary of Faversham maritime heritage, Harold opened the discussion by asking Stuart Bligh from the Royal Museums Greenwich about the possibility of the Graveney boat returning to Faversham to the proposed museum. This started a lively debate regarding how and where it might be displayed, as well as the problems that might be encountered, especially TS Hazard being prone to flooding and the sheer size of the Graveney boat relative to the space available. Indeed, among a large part of the audience the potential of the building to become a museum largely seemed to be a given, albeit those representing the sea cadets were keen to make sure they received suitable alternative accommodation before anything further was decided and John Owen had hoped the discussion would focus on the themes that might be articulated through the museum. Concerning the latter, this didn\u2019t really materialise beyond the Graveney boat, and at the end of the meeting almost all the discussion might be said to have been on practicalities. Yet it was great to see the obvious enthusiasm around the room and it will be interesting to see what happens next, that is after the completion of the architectural survey of the building by Canterbury Archaeological Trust that has been commissioned by Swale Borough Council as part of its duty of care to TS Hazard. For amongst other considerations, this \u2018museum\u2019 has the potential to showcase the histories of people \u2013 those who lived, worked, played, worshipped and died within Faversham\u2019s maritime communities, especially for the centuries that saw this building come into existence and for the centuries when it was perhaps most used, possibly the period from about 1300 to 1600.<\/p>\n Canterbury – looking down Burgate<\/p>\n Keeping with the concept of place and space, I thought I would finish by drawing your attention to Canterbury Christ Church\u2019s offering to the \u2018Being Human Festival 2018\u2019:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/kenthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/445\/2018\/10\/DSC07374-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/kenthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/445\/2018\/10\/AbbeyStreet1-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/kenthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/445\/2018\/10\/Bullstake1-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/kenthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/445\/2018\/10\/Bullstake2-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n