The Royal Abbey, Faversham - 1965
The excavation of this extensive site, covering some four to five acres, was undertaken during January and February 1965 in advance of development projects. Mechanical excavators were used throughout the excavation, and what would normally have taken ten years to excavate by conventional means was completed within 55 days.
The site of the Abbey, established by King Stephen in 1148 as a Cluniac foundation, was located and the associated buildings examined. The church itself proved to be a vast structure, over 350 feet in length and nearly 80 feet in width. Longer than the Confessor's Westminster Abbey, longer than Lanfranc's Canter- bury and larger than St. Augustine's Abbey, it was clearly one of the great abbeys of the realm. Stephen, his wife and son were all buried within the church.
To the North was a correspondingly large cloister and attached buildings, including Chapter House, Frater, Dorter, Cellar and West Range. The church and claustral buildings had been reduced in size at a later date, and a large cemetery covered part of the original structure.
The many small finds included carved stonework, window glass, lead, large numbers of floor tiles and several coins. The tiles form an important series ranging in date from the 12th to the 15th century. The glass, painted and coloured, is some of the earliest of its type so far found.
The work was carried out, on behalf of the Ministry of Public Building and Works, by the Reculver Excavation Group, the West Kent Border Archaeological Group and several members of other Kent groups.
B. J. PHILP
Faversham Abbey - 1968
During the excavations on the site of the royal abbey at Faversham in 1965 a number of unusual features concerning the monastic plan were revealed. In particular the cloister was found to 'float' away from the nave wall in a manner not paralleled on any other monastic site. In addition the eastern range did not continue the alignment of the transept in the normal way, but was offset eastwards some 30 feet or more. Another highly unusual feature was that the eastern arm of the conventual church was 170ft, in length and was actually some 20 ft. longer than the western arm! Almost without exception the western arms of the greater Anglo- Norman Romanesque churches were the longer of the two. Even allowing for the great royal chapel, in which were found the tombs of Stephen, Matilda and Eustace, the eastern arm at Faversham was of disproportionate length.
It was not until early in 1967 that the probable solution to these various problems was found. This was that the transept of the original scheme was never built as intended, but re-positioned some 30 ft. further to the west shortly after work began. Normally work commenced simultaneously on the eastern end of the church and the eastern range of the domestic buildings. In this way services could be held with the minimum of delay in the first part of the church completed and the chapter house and dormitories made quickly available. The eastern range would certainly have been started on the line of the intended transept in the normal way and if the latter was subsequently re-positioned then the normal alignment would be lost. This is exactly the position at Faversham where the eastern range was found well to the east of the transept alignment. This also explains the odd position of the cloister relative to the church. Clearly the cloister-walks were intended to provide access to the various domestic buildings ranged on three sides and thus the position of the cloister was dictated by the position of the eastern range. The effect of this was to pull the cloister away from the north, nave wall to a point at the end of the north transept.
The repositioning hypothesis also explains the undue length of the eastern arm of the church. Allowing for the intended transept being some 30 feet further east. then the western arm was intended to be 180 feet in length and the eastern arm a mere 140 feet. This would restore the balance as noted on other sites. A detailed report on the excavation, finds and conclusions is now being prepared for publication.
BRIAN PHILP.
