The offer in 2013 of investigative access to the large garden of an ancient inn on Preston Street, was the stimulus for this project. Preston remains a peculiar parish, consisting of 3 parts: North Preston (Without) lying to the north of the town, with Preston (Within), and South Preston (Without) to the south. Preston Within has the ancient church, St Catherine’s, which includes Anglo-Saxon stonework, and is possibly older than the Faversham parish church. This project had several aims including: establishing a chronological sequence for (in particular) medieval activity, establishing dating evidence for the manor house demolished 1931, and understanding more in general about Preston – A Most Peculiar Parish.
Excavation Reports
An investigation into St Catherine's Church,
Vicarage and the immediate surrounding area
(includes the following):
​
KP 106 in the garden of 62 Preston Park
KP 121 in the garden of Tall Trees, St Catherines Drive
Graveyard investigation into the graveyard of St Catherines Church
Surveys of St Catherines Vicarage, its grounds and the Schoolroom.
​
​
Preston Farm (includes the following):
KP102 - 3 Nelson Terrace, Faversham
KP104 - 16 Preston Grove, Faversham
KP117A,B & C - 1 The Close, Preston Lane, Faversham
KP 116 - 14 Preston Grove, Faversham
Survey 122 - 2 The Close, Preston Lane, Faversham
Preston House (includes the following):
KP110 - 9 Preston Grove, Faversham
KP111 - 13 Preston Grove, Faversham
KP112A, B & C - 11 Preston Grove, Faversham
KP113 - 15 Preston Grove, Faversham
KP114 - 17 Preston Grove, Faversham
Survey 123 - 7 Preston Grove, Faversham
Deconstructing and Reconstructing ‘Watling Street’
​
This is a support document for the third season of Preston: a Most Peculiar Parish and discusses what is probably the best known of all the famous roads built under the Roman occupation of Britannia. It is the road used by William the Conqueror after the battle of Hastings when he worked his way along the coast to Dover and turned left for London. Chaucer's Pilgrims travelled along it from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St Thomas Becket. Watling Street came to be called the Great Dover Road in the 18th- early 19th century. Canterbury and London still have roads called Watling Street.
So, what is there left to find out you may say? Then read on…