The Gospel Mission Hall is on the north-eastern
corner of Tanner's Street and Napleton Road, opposite Reeves Passage. The
Hall (shown here in 2005) is an Independent church which is not affiliated
to any sect and, although the date of its founding is uncertain, in 2010
it continued to flourish. The Hall's band, which is now known as the Mission
Brass, was photographed on the steps of the Hall about 1925, at which time
it was called the Gospel Mission Band.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church
is further down Tanners Street in Faversham, on the western side.
The church was originally built as a school
by the gunpowder factory owners for the children of their staff.
The Georgian building next door was built for a tanner about 1747 and is
now the presbytery. The Carmelites took responsibility for the
parish in 1926, acquiring this site in 1937. The school was now the
Empire Cinema, and this was converted into the church.
Faversham Congregational Church stood on
the south-eastern corner of Newton Road and East Street. The
Congregationalists moved here from the Partridge Lane Chapel in 1878.
They merged with the Presbyterians in 1972 to become Faversham
United Reformed Church, but declining numbers saw them merge
with the Methodist at Preston Street. The building (shown here in
1965) was demolished in 1974 and replaced by a block of sheltered
housing.
The United Church is situated on the
eastern side of Preston Street, a few metres north of the junction
with Station Road. John Wesley visited Faversham three times. His
last visit was the most successful, and Preston Street Methodist
Church was opened on the present site in 1808. The building was
Georgian-style, but some members were lost after the creation of the
Primitive Methodists in 1810. The first building was replaced by the
present Gothic building in 1861.
The Primitive Methodists from Stone Street Chapel
rejoined the church in 1932. The Bible Christians, using the vacant
Stone Street Chapel, also merged, shortly before the Second World War.
Then the United Reformed Church joined the Methodists in 1974,
abandoning their own building in Newton Street and creating the United
Church that survives to this day. The building's interior was modified
in 1980, with a new floor at gallery level for worship with a hall
under it.
Gatefield Lane Chapel is on the
northern side of the lane, off Preston Street. It was opened in 1833
by Calvinistic Baptists and then used by Wesleyan Methodists. Faversham Baptist Church was formed here in 1868
and moved to its own building in 1873. Then the chapel was taken by
the Plymouth Brethren before being converted into the
Faversham Club about 1887. The building may have been gutted by the
architect, Adkins, although the facade might be original.
Three photos and text on this page contributed by
Arthur Percival.
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