Faversham in the heart of the north Kent countryside has a name for locally produced food and drink and is famous for being home to the oldest market in Kent. Faversham Market runs on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in the Market Place and along Court Street and sells locally produced Kent-grown fruit and vegetables, alongside plants, flowers, clothes and household essentials. On the first Saturday of every month, meanwhile, Best of Faversham brings together food, arts and crafts in Preston Street including Kent cider, smoked fish, meat and vegetables, and olives.
As Kent is the centre of England’s hop growing industry (read our article about the history of hop growing in Kent) and Faversham has been the home of breweries for hundreds of years, the town is probably now best known for the Shepherd Neame Brewery, which was established in 1698 and offers tours and tastings. Nearby, Brogdale Fruit Orchards – home to the National Fruit Collection, the world’s largest collection of fruit trees and plants – is packed orchards groaning with apples, cherries, plums and pears, cobnuts, quinces and strawberries.
Faversham is also renowned for being mentioned in the Domesday Book and home to a Magna Carta dated 1300. Located in north Kent, the town grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek, and through to have been a summer capital for the Saxon Kings of Kent. By 1800 the town had also established itself as the centre of Britain’s gunpowder industry and helped keep the guns firing at the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo.
