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Queen's Hall

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Queen's Hall in 1903

The Queen's Hall, in Forbes Road, Faversham, was built as a parish hall for the parish of St Mary of Charity in 1903 and named in honour of Queen Victoria, who had died in 1901.

About 20 years ago the parish needed money for the restoration of the church and sold it. An attic storey was created and this provides a flat. The ground floor was partitioned for use as studios - used mainly by photographers and graphic designers. Postally the building is still known as the Queen's Hall.

The leadwork on the cupola was executed by H. Hugh Gower, who was born in poverty in a slum property off Tanners Street in 1872. When he left school he learned several trades at a local builder's.

There was a depression in Faversham in the first decade of the 20th century and the owner of the building firm, a devout Methodist, engineered his emigration to Canada in 1907. Soon he moved to the USA, where he trained for the ministry. He died in 1937.

The ground in front of Queen's Hall is maintained by a little team of volunteers who got together to restore it to its former glory.

They have christened it 'Abel's Acre' after Walter Abel, who in the days before the local government re-organisation of 1974 was the Faversham Borough Councils parks superintendent.
The organiser of the volunteers is his daughter.

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