Brief history of our parish
The beginnings
In the last decades of the 19th Century Fr Power at Canterbury tried to establish a parish at Faversham. As late as 1890 the handful of Catholics in the town had to take the train to Sittingbourne for Mass. However, in 1900 the Archdiocese of Southwark obtained Plantation House, a large rambling building in Plantation Road. Thus, with the help of Oblates of St Francis – a French community – at Walmer, the parish was founded. The Oblates were to stay until 1911 and during that time they built a small church that accommodated some sixty worshippers. Bishop Amigo opened and blessed the church on 26th August 1906. Keeping the parish going was a struggle with an income of only £22.00 a year.
The first diocesan priest to arrive in Faversham was Fr Rhead from Walworth (today the Carmelites have pastoral care of that South London parish). Fr Rhead was energetic and devoted. The religious life of the parish flourished with an annual Corpus Christi procession around the town. During World War I the parish grew with a presence of soldiers and refugees and the income was now £70.00 a year! In 1918 Fr Rhead was succeeded by Fr Hoare who battled on despite the poverty of the place. In 1924 he had to resign and was replaced by Fr Fairbourn.
Arrival of the Carmelites
About this time the Carmelites made contact with Bishop Amigo to seek a foundation in Kent in the hope of one day returning to Aylesford Priory, the ancient home of the Order. The bishop entrusted the Carmelites with the care of the parishes of Faversham and Sittingbourne, and so the Carmelites began pastoral care of the parish of Faversham on 31st July 1926. One of the first parish priests was a young friar in his mid 20s, Fr Malachy Lynch, later to be famous as the prior who was to restore Aylesford Priory some two decades later. By the time Fr Malachy left the parish in 1930 the number of Catholics had increased to 330.
The move to Tanners Street
It was Fr Malachy’s elder brother, Fr Elias, who was to have an enduring effect on the parish. When he came in 1934 he was not impressed with the church or the priory. He soon set about raising money, moved the church and priory to Tanners Street and turned Plantation Road into a school with the help of a group of Notre Dame sisters. Elias went on via his newsletter and societies to make the parish secure and raise funds for the Order in Britain and Ireland. He became deeply involved in the life of the town and raised the profile of Catholicism. He built the Shrine to St Jude, which was dedicated in 1955. Bro. Anthony McGreal was Fr Elias Lynch’s right hand helper over a period of 30 years from 1935. Elias stayed on in Faversham until his death in 1967. In the last decade of his life younger friars cared for the parish.
Sadly, the school in Plantation Road had to close, so children now go to Whitstable for primary education and Canterbury for secondary school.
Into God’s future
In the last decades of the 20th Century the Catholic population continued to grow with upwards of 700 Catholics. The effects of Vatican II can be seen in lay collaboration in ministry, especially enabling care of the sick in a parish that has a large rural hinterland. Fr Frank Crossan who was parish priest in the 1980s established effective pastoral structures and the present Carmelite community is trying to build on his work.
Looking back over the years of the parish a debt of gratitude is owed to so many who were dedicated to God’s work in this part of Kent.