Fleur de Lis Museum and Gallery
Jan West
Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre, Preston Street
Faversham
Kent ME13 8NS
01795 590726
fleurmuseum@tiscali.co.uk
Faversham Museum, incorporating the
Fleur de Lis Gallery, is housed in the
Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre in Preston Street and provides an insight into the history of Faversham.
It was re-opened in November 2002 after a complete refurbishment of the site and the provision of new facilities.
Museum
John Culmer, Senior Honorary Curator, talks about the updated museum:
“Faversham is one of England’s finest historic towns, and its past is eventful, to put it mildly,” says John Culmer, the senior curator. “We’ve tried to tell as much of its story as we can.
“The area has been settled since Iron Age times, if not earlier, and visitors will begin by seeing some of what archaeology has revealed.
“In the same gallery they’ll see how the town grew, and what part its two monasteries, Faversham Abbey and Davington Priory, played in its development in medieval times.”
“However much they gave to Faversham, the monasteries - the Abbey in particular - held it in an economic stranglehold. Freed of this by Henry VIII, the town became hugely prosperous, and our new Elizabethan room illustrates this.”
“It was in Elizabethan times that Faversham’s explosives industry started. It lasted nearly 400 years, and culminated in a huge factory alongside The Swale. Perched on 100-lb powder barrels, visitors will view a specially-commissioned video tracing its development.
“They’ll be reminded that, whatever their role in warfare, explosives made the Industrial Revolution possible.
“Having seen the video, they’ll probably want to visit the town’s Chart Gunpowder Mills, the oldest in the world, and restored by the Faversham Society.”
“Upstairs is the climax of the first phase of the new museum - a wonderful range of treats for visitors.
“They’ll come face to face, first, with a Victorian schoolroom, as authentic as we can make it. Next comes a late Victorian kitchen, complete with luckless maid scrubbing the floor. Opposite, a reminder of how people managed to enjoy themselves in the home before the arrival of colour television and computers.
“Lantern-slide shows and wind-up gramophones may be things of the past now, but in our great-grandparents’ day they were hi-tech.”
“Faversham has never suffered badly from ‘enemy action’, but wars have taken their toll, as local people died fighting for our freedom. Precautions had to be taken on the ‘home front’ too. We’ve remembered both aspects. Figuring here, for example, are memorabilia from both World Wars, and reminders of the work of ‘Dad’s Army’ and the Air Raid Wardens. Uniformed officers are on hand to see that good discipline is maintained! We even have a hand-operated air raid siren, but it’s so incredibly noisy we daren’t operate it!”
“Nearby are reminders of the town’s rich civic and ceremonial life, not to mention reflections of the sporting scene. Taking pride of place here, alongside cricket and soccer, are two special local sports - goal running and rink hockey. Both have virtually died out. What a pity - they were great fun! As for cycling - we have a penny-farthing - what more could you ask?”
“Finally comes our ‘shopping centre’. Well, not quite on the scale of Bluewater, but a vivid evocation of how High Street shops used to be in our grandparents’ day. We have a barber’s, a chemist’s, a sweet shop, a sub-post office and lending library, and a draper’s, with an obsequious shop-walker welcoming a wealthy customer. All the windows are dressed period-style, and everything on show is authentic."
Admission
| Heritage Centre Open: |
Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm
Sunday, 10am to 1pm
last admissions 30 minutes before closing |
| Entrance: |
10-11 Preston Street
(Tourist Information Centre and Shop) |
| Admission Charges: |
Adults: £3.00
Seniors and young people: £1.50
Faversham Society members: free of charge |
| Nearest Car Parks: |
Bank Street (2 minutes’ walk)
Forbes Road (4 minutes’ walk) |
| Road Access: |
M2/A251 (Junction 6) [4 minutes’ drive to car parks] |
| Rail Access: |
Mainline station at top of Preston Street (4 minutes’ walk) |
You can telephone us 
01795 590726 or 
fleurmuseum@tiscali.co.uk
Doddington Library
The Faversham Society is the custodian of the Doddington Parochial Library. This library was founded under the will of the Reverend Daniel Somerscales who died in 1737 and was augmented by others in the 19th century. It is one of the few ancient libraries of this kind to have survived and consists of some 400 volumes primarily of an ecclesiastical nature. It is available for research by bona-fide students by appointment with the Librarian via the Faversham Society or by 01795 590726.
The Marlowe Library
The library of the Christopher Marlowe Society is housed within the Faversham Society's Fleur de Lis complex. it consists of some 500 volumes relating to Elizabethan and Jacobean drama and the papers of the Marlowe Society dating back to 1954 and the late Dolly Wraight. It is available for study purposes by members of the Marlowe Society and by students (by previous appointment).
A catalogue of the collection appears on the Marlowe Society website at www.marlowe-society.org
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The Fleur de Lis Gallery, housed in the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre in Preston Street, hosts temporary exhibitions, frequently changed, of themes from Faversham's history. The Gallery is part of the Museum complex, and will be seen on a full Museum tour, but is a free exhibition gallery for any independent visitors. The Gallery will also cater for visiting exhibitions, the work of local artists, recent acquisitions to the collection and specific subjects.
Changes are publicised and the latest news can also be obtained by a phone call to our direct line 01795 590726 or fleurmuseum@tiscali.co.uk.
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