IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Tanners Street, FAVERSHAM, ME13 7JW

The adjoining Georgian house is undergoing painting and maintenance. The church building was built in 1861 as a schoolroom for the female children of Quakers, many of whom worked in the Faversham gunpowder industry. The mid-18th-century house adjoining the school was occupied by the schoolteachers. The Quakers vacated the school in 1907 and the building was acquired in 1910 by East Kent Cinemas and converted into The Empire Picture Hall. The cinema closed in 1936 and both it and the adjoining house, together with substantial grounds, were bought by the Carmelites, who had been established in Faversham since 1926. The schoolroom itself was fitted for worship. Fittings have been contributed over the years by various artists including Edward Ardizzone, who painted the large reredos triptych.

Viewed from Whitefriars in Tanners Street. Whitefriars includes the catholic church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the shrine of St. Jude. Part of the presbytery can be seen to the left of the photograph.

Grade II listed. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-176017-25-27-tanners-street-faversham-kent

Tucked away in Tanners Street stands this complex consisting of a Carmelite Priory (left), the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (with a small Hall below), the Shrine of St Jude, the Carmelite Newsletter Office and a small printing works (let to a separate company). The building that is now the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel has had a chequered history. It was built by William Hall in 1861, as a Quaker school. William Hall was associated with the gunpowder industry in the town. In 1910 the building was acquired by East Kent Cinemas, and after some alterations opened its doors as the Empire Picture Hall. It ran as a cinema until 1937 when a new picture house was built in the centre of the town. The building which is now the Priory was built for a tanner called John Gilbert, who died in 1746. See also http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/397909

On Image A Catholic Church on Tanner Street. Part of the 41 Faversham Society plaques around the town.

Above the writing is the town coat of arms also seen in other parts of the town. It has three lions and a Latin inscription The Latin motto is "Regis ut arma rego libera portus ego", "Since I bear arms for the King without charge, I am a free port". Faversham is the only town in the UK to use the Royal arms of England as its own heraldic emblem.

This looks across Tanner Street, which is beyond the wall, to Faversham Almshouses which can be seen beyond - see https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6414525 For more about Our Lady Of Mount Carmel Church & Shrine of St Jude see https://www.stjudeshrine.org.uk/

Designed by two Kent architects, Hooker and Wheeler, and built in 1863, the almshouses consist of 70 units. They replaced several smaller almshouses scattered about the town and were funded by a bequest to the town by Henry Wreight (1760-1840), a local solicitor and former Mayor of Faversham. This is the western end of the building, viewed from Tanners Street.

Almshouses for six widows were founded and endowed by Thomas Mendfield in 1614. In 1721 Thomas Napleton founded and endowed houses for six men. In 1840, Henry Wreight, a local solicitor and former Mayor of Faversham, gave a bequest which enabled the rebuilding of the almshouses on a grand scale which was complete by 1863 to provide 70 units. It is one of the largest and finest schemes of its kind in the United Kingdom. The accommodation was modernised in 1982 at a cost of £1 million. This is the southern end.