“From the source of the Westbrook to the Sea”
16th to 19th September in St Mary of Charity
An interactive exhibition celebrating the contemporary, cultural, built, industrial and natural heritage of our waterway.
Our Creek and the chalk streams that run through the town define its topography and account for the ancient settlements which grew into Faversham. The route of the Westbrook from Painters Forstal to Stonebridge Pond, Faversham Creek to The Swale will be displayed in maps down the central aisle of the church.
As Dr Pat Reid reminded us back in 2012, the “Westbrook stream, small but powerful and fed from reliable chalk springs, has long been seen by historians as being by far the most important factor in the development of Faversham.” Matthew Hatchwell points out that “the Westbrook and Cooksditch are just two of the dozen or more streams that flow from the underground chalk of the North Kent Downs into this section of the Thames Estuary.” Chalk streams are globally rare “they are frequently referred to as England’s equivalent of tropical rainforests.”
All those with an interest in the waterway that runs through the heart of Faversham are invited to join by exhibiting alongside the maps in a celebration of “the contemporary, cultural, built, industrial and natural heritage of our waterway.”
Download poster
| Natural | Built |
| Lorenden Park NR West Brook Stonebridge Pond Thorn and White Creeks Flora and Fauna Crab Island Clapgate Spring Cooksditch School Farm Spring Nagden & Ham Marshes Ramsar/SSSI/Special Protected Area Marine Conservation Zone | Ship Inn Purifier Building TS Hazard Pump House Town Jetty Swan Quay Sailing Barges Oyster Bay House Front Brents The Albion Standard Quay Custom House Anchor Pub Ship Wrights Arms Three Mariners The Castle |
| Industrial | Cultural & Spiritual |
| Chart Gunpowder Mill Blast Walls Brogdale Ordnance Wharf BMM Weston Purifier Building Iron Wharf Marsh Gunpowder Works Hollowshore Fisheries South East Water Southern Water Sewage Works Faversham Creek Navigation Co | Abbey &Abbey Fields St Peter & St Paul and Davington Churches Maison Dieu Creek Creative Faversham Camera Club |
| Organisations we hope will join in | |
| Cinque Ports Creek Creative Creekside Boxing Faversham Creek Trust Faversham Footpaths Group Faversham Society Faversham Town of Culture Faversham Town Council | FSARG Friends of the Westbrook Kent Archaeological Society National Maritime Museum Parish Councils Lorenden Trust Stonebridge Pond Allotments |
Join us in this inclusive celebration of our town’s heritage.
Be part of the exhibition and if you want to organise additional talks, walks, or events we’ll add them to the Open Faversham Website.
If you would like to organise an event or activity linked with either of this year’s Open Faversham themes please contact us, and we’ll promote them as part of Open Faversham
We cannot provide a venue or public liability insurance for your event, but we can promote it for you
To provide us with details of your event please use Add-an-Event
Join us in this inclusive celebration of our town’s heritage.
Be part of the exhibition and/or organise additional talks, walks, or events, and we’ll add them to the Open Faversham website.
Join our exhibition – tell people what you are doing
We are organising an inclusive event with no charge for participating. The maps of the waterway from the edge of the downs to the Swale will form the spine of the exhibition. The maps will be laid flat on the pews.
You are invited to mount your exhibition on a mounting board or card. We recommend and request that you mount your exhibition on A0 or A1 sheets. The advantage of this approach is that you can lay out your exhibition panel beforehand, deliver it to the church on 15th September, and take it away to use elsewhere afterwards.
The mounting boards will need to be laid out with the longest side at the top.
A0 and A1 mounting boards are available on Amazon – we will try to identify a source in Faversham
There is a very limited number of vertical boards available in the church; these will need to be pre-booked
You will not need to Staff your exhibition but we will be looking to establish a rota so that there Exhibition are two or more people there throughout
Set up 15th September, take down 17:00-18:00 Saturday 19th September
If you would like to join in the exhibition or have questions, please use our contact form
We welcome additional talks, walks, or events
We cannot provide a venue or public liability insurance for your event, but we can promote it for you.
To provide us with details of your event, please use Add-an-Event