A brief history of both the United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church in Faversham

The United Reformed Church (Congregational)

There are records of gatherings for worship, not in accordance with the usages of the Established Church, in Faversham in the middle of the 16th Century. ‘STRYPPES ANNALS’, under date 1550, refers to ‘sectaries appeared now in Essex and Kent of whom complaint was made to the council’. The congregation in Essex is mentioned as being in Barking, and then in Kent at Faversham.
In 1662 Parliament passed the Act of Uniformity which required the use of the new Prayer Book in all places of worship in the Kingdom. A large number of clergy were compelled to give up their posts for their refusal to confirm to this regulation. Among these was the then Vicar of Faversham the Rev. Nathaniel Wilmot. (His name does not appear on the roll of Vicars of Faversham in the Parish Church. When this was pointed out to a more recent Vicar, he dismissed the omission wit5h the remark “O he was a non-conformist”). He was subsequently reported against in 1669 for preaching to about 300 persons in a house at Davington being described as a non-conformist minister and itinerant preacher. Some years later he was granted a licence to preach in the house of Francis Jeffrey at Davington. He subsequently became pastor of a Church i9n Dover. A sometime assistant of his there, Mr. Comfort Starre was later ordained and became the Minister of the Guildhall Street Congregational Church at Canterbury, and it would appear that his coming there marks the date from which our local Congregational fellowship began to have anything like a corporate existence.

It is recorded that in 1678 “Twenty of the Church at Canterbury resided at Faversham”. On that reckoning we have existed as a Church fellowship for over 300 years – a continuity we can be justly proud of.
It is not clear just when our fellowship came to have a resident Minister locally but it was sometime between 1689 and 1698. Records regarding that time do not show where the members worshipped nor how many Ministers presided between 1689 and 1789. Possibly they met at Davington, it being recorded in 1692 – “Some French Protestants had the use of the church at Davington for which they paid an annual rent of £3”.

In 1789 Mr. John Simmonds a one time Doctor in Chatham, with property in Faversham moved into the town and at his own expense erected our Chapel in Partridge Lane which was opened in July 1789 (the year of the French Revolution). Forty years later at the cost of £1,000, Sunday school accommodation was added, and again in 1832 a gallery was added to further increase the accommodation. Mr. Simmonds died 1794 and was laid rest beneath the communion table.

In 1873 the Partridge Lane accommodation was again inadequate for the congregation of the day and the building of a new one was determined upon. A site was purchased for £700, in Newton Road, an area of the town which had long been developed in company with St. Mary’s, St. John’s and Park roads. This area of the town was often referred to as ‘The Meadows’ and Gatefield House and Lane derives its name from the fact that there had been a gateway there into the meadows.

The site selected was directly next to what is now the Library and is now the site of ‘Herbert Dane Court’, a housing complex for the elderly and named after ‘Herbert Dane’ a local newspaper editor, historian and Congregation church member who held office in the church for over 80 years.

The new church opened in 1879 and cost £8,500, the monies being raised by the then members – which was no mean achievement. A press reporter of the day referred to the building as being “In keeping with the times and a credit to them (the members) and an ornament to the town”.

The large congregation at the dedicating service in the middle of the opening day included “a gratifying number of persons connected with the ‘Established Church’”. The choir was a numerous one and “included members of choirs of most from most of the denominations in the town, whose presence furnished another illustration of the good feelings existing between the different sects in Faversham”.

For a long period considerable Home Missionary work was carried out by the church in villages in and around Faversham, including The Brents, Oare, Graveny, Newnham, Staple Street and Ospringe (opened and registered in 1837). There mission stations were served by local preachers from the Newton Road church and an evangelist supported by the Kent Congregational Association.In 1887 a chapel, now a garage was opened in Ospringe Road close to Ospringe Street.

The Church has been active in Sunday School work for over two hundred years including running a “Ragged School” in the slums which existed for too long behind the Quays in Conduit Street.

Through the years the church has maintained its witness. During the First World War the Partridge Lane chapel was requisitioned by the Government and used to house troops.

It was returned to the Church sometime after the war and was again used for Sunday School and midweek meetings. The Sunday School regularly left the morning service at Newton Road and marched in a crocodile to Partridge Lane for their lessons. They again met there each Sunday afternoon.

During the Second World War the church was damaged when a bomb demolished the houses at the bottom of Newton Road. For a while again Partridge Lane became the church meeting place.

In 1972 the Congregational Church in England and Wales united with the Presbyterian Church to form the United Reformed Church, also to be joined in 1981by the Churches of Christ.

The effects of war and age took their toll and eventually in 1974 the site was disposed of to a charitable trust, the building was demolished and the elderly people’s home complex ‘Herbert Dane Court’ came into being. Church services were again held in Partridge Lane and then, following discussions with the Methodist Church with whom a regular series of united services had been instituted over several years, the Partridge Lane building was sold, and the United Reformed Church joined with the Methodist Church in Preston Street and became The United Church.Faversham.

* The source of this history comes from the notes left by HERBERT DANE *






The Methodist Church


John Wesley first visited Faversham in 1738 on his return journey from America. On that occasion he recorded in his journal that the inhabitants “Were indeed more savage in their behaviour than the wildest Indians I have yet met with”.

Wesley was to preach in Faversham on three other occasions the last being in 1788 when he rather grudgingly conceded in his journal “After a long winter the seed seems to be springing up”.

It was not John Wesley however who was directly responsible for establishing Methodism in Faversham. That honour must go to two preachers from Canterbury, the brothers Charles and Edward Perronet. They first visited Faversham around 1765 and by 1770 when Wesley again visited the town a local congregation under the leadership of Mr. Pysing was meeting regularly in a hired room in Quay Lane.

The early Methodists faced a great deal of opposition locally. Mr Pysing was threatened with the loss of his job “For entertaining the preachers in his house”, and in 1785 the local magistrates, no less, organised a mob to drive John Wesley out of town. The pugnacious little preacher who knew his rights regained control by threatening the magistrates with the law!

The youthful Methodists society met in a variety of hired rooms during the eighteenth century gradually growing in numbers, until in 1808 it was able to purchase a plot of land in Preston Street for £165 and built a chapel there which was opened in 1809.

In its early days Faversham relied greatly on Canterbury for its initiation and leadership, but by 1843 chapels had been opened in many of the surrounding villages and Faversham became head of a separate circuit, remaining so until 1960 when it was reabsorbed into the Canterbury circuit.

Progress in the nineteenth century was steady rather than spectacular, but in 1859 the growing church decided to demolish its existing chapel and rebuild the existing ground and the adjoining plot which had been purchased some years earlier.

This new building was opened in 1861, and further accommodation was made when the galleries were added ten years later.

The Wesleyan Sunday School had been established in 1810, and by the end of the century boasted over 300 scholars and 52 teachers. Some of the memoirs elsewhere in this history tell of the important place which the Sunday School occupied in the lives of many young people.

In 1871 the Wesleyans opened a day school immediately behind the church, and the accommodation was increased ten years later by the purchase of land the other side of Solomons Lane. This school continued to serve the local community until the reorganisation of education following the ‘Butler’ Education Act of 1944.

Although the Wesleyans introduced Methodism to Faversham, other groups of the Methodist Church were also represented in the town.
The Bible Christians established a meeting house in Water Lane in 1831, and by 1852 they were well enough established to build a new chapel in Abbey Place with accommodation for 500 persons.
In 1898 they again moved, this time to a new chapel built in Stone Street. In 1907 the Bible Christians became one of the partners in the united Methodist Church, and the Stone Street chapel became known by this name.
A notable feature of the Bible Christian Church was its missionary zeal, and at least three of the pioneer missionaries to South West China had connections with the Stone Street chapel.

The Primitive Methodists established themselves in Faversham in 1857 when they purchased a preaching house in ‘The Brents’ from the Wesleyans. They continued in these premises until 1898 when they took over the Abbey Place chapel vacated by the Bible Christians. This cause however declined during the early years of the 20th century, and the Abbey Place chapel closed sometime between 1909 and 1917.

In 1932 the major branches of Methodism joined together to form the Methodist Church as it is constituted today. Following this union the Stone Street congregation joined with that of Preston Street in 1941.

The formalities





The coming together of two great Churches.

There has been a long and honourable history of co-operation between the two congregations now joined at Preston Street. In the early 1970’s it became obvious that the United Reformed Church in Newton Road required extensive repairs which were beyond the scope of the congregation.
In 1973 the U.R.C. deacons made approaches to other free churches regarding possible unity or sharing arrangements. The Methodist Leader’s Meeting was happy to make a positive response to this approach.

The Newton Road premises were sold in 1974, the final service in that church being held on November 17th. A limited degree of sharing was instituted in July 1975 whereby combined evening services were held alternately in Partridge Lane and Preston Street, each church holding separate morning services on its own premises.

The Partridge Lane premises were also in a poor state of repair, and were eventually sold in 1976. All the services were then held in Preston Street, each congregation initially holding separate morning services whilst the evening services were united as before. In October 1977 the separate morning services were discontinued so that all services were shared, each denomination taking alternate responsibility for the preaching arrangements.

By this time many members of both congregations realised that the effective way forward would be via the united witness of a single congregation. It was wisely agreed however that rather than impose a unity onto two congregations, each with its own distinguished traditions, it would be better to allow an interim period which the congregations could get to know and appreciate each other better.

So for two years differences in custom, tradition and Church government were talked over, and more importantly the way forward, also the Church’s mission in the future was considered.

In 1979 the Methodist Church Council and the United Reformed Church agreed to enter into a shared building agreement. In July a committee consisting of equal numbers from each congregation was appointed, and this committee held regular meetings during the following months to formulate a constitution.

By May 1980 a draft agreement had been completed and this was presented to the various Church authorities for consideration. A few minor alterations were recommended and in October both churches agreed to sign the agreement.

The formalities having been completed, it was agreed to celebrate the agreement with joint Covenant Services on September 7th 1980. These were conducted by the two ministers Rev. R. Wood, and Rev. E. Henson B. A. who had each worked so hard to ensure the success of the scheme. The guest preachers were Rev. Cyril Franks the Southern Moderator of the United Reformed Church, and Dr. Paul Sangster headmaster of the Methodist Kent College Canterbury.

It had been an eventful five years which may well prove to be the most significant period in the distinguished history of the two congregations. The United Church, that eas its new name, of Preston Street church then faced the future confident in a united witness.


Room for a new venture

By the mid 1970’s it became obvious that the Preston Street premises, like so many ecclesiastical buildings created a century ago, were beginning to “feel there age”.

In 1979 it was discovered that the walls of the schoolroom, at the rear of the church, were unsafe and could no longer be used. Mr. B. Stocker consultant structural engineer of Canterbury, inspected the whole building to report on its general condition and gave valuable advice regarding supportive work to be done on the roof trusses of the Schoolroom. This supporting work was done in the autumn of 1979 by a volunteer working party of men from the Church, thus making the schoolroom safe for use once more.

It was clear however that this was merely a temporary palliative measure and the Rev. E. Henson asked the architect Mr. Frank Lee-Evans of Lee Evans partnership Canterbury to discuss with the Church council of February 1979 possible suggestions as to the future developments in the building.

Of the various suggestions advanced, the Church Council greatly favoured the possibility of making a ‘Split level’ Church. This would involve putting in a floor at gallery level, so that the upper floor could be used for worship with committee rooms and hall on the ground floor. The scheme was attractive as it would not alter the outside appearance of the Church, it would save on heating for the premises, and it would not entail expensive rebuilding of the old schoolroom.

Unfortunately the cost of this scheme was estimated £70,000 which was beyond the resources of the Methodist congregation, so the idea had to be put on ice for a while.

By 1981 however a combination of circumstances made it possible to reconsider this scheme. As a result of the shared building agreement between the United Reformed Church and the Methodists the U.R.C. was legally enabled to put into the scheme, funds which it had received from the sale of its Newton road building. Also the Methodists were able to sell the chapels at Boughton and Oversland which had been closed for worship due to diminishing congregation.

A joint Church Meeting in January 1982 calculated that the money from these sources together with possible grants from Central Church funds would amount to £50,000. It was considered that the joint Church could raise another £10,000 so Mr Lee-Evans, who had a great deal of experience in this type of work, was asked to update his scheme and to amend it to come within a £60,000 budget.

The amended scheme was accepted by the \church Council in April 1982 and put out to tender. The tender submitted by the Faversham firm of Fullers Ltd. Was accepted and the final service in the old Church was held on June 6th.

Immediately after these final services a volunteer working party got to work removing pews, pulpit and other woodwork from the Church preparatory to the builders moving in July.

Each week the congregation peered through gaps in the wall could see further evidence of the contractor’s progress and the completion of the scheme had been waited with great anticipation.

Those of the congregation who knew and loved the old building were a little apprehensive about the new. But according to reports they all felt that it was a fitting base from which the new united congregation could witness to the surrounding community.

It was said at the time that in their new elevated position that they were “Nearer my God to thee”

                       *Thanks to John Walland for the above information*