Faversham

There has been a settlement at Faversham since pre-Roman times, as indicated by a Belgic Late Iron Age farmstead discovered under the playing fields of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School. The farmstead was located in the broader region later associated by Ptolemy with the Cantii. The site later became a Roman villa. There is also evidence of Mesolithic and Neolithic human activity in and around the town. The Roman name was Durolevum. The modern name is of Old English origin, probably meaning "the metal-worker's village". It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Favreshant. The Barons of Faversham were using three lions passant guardant – the royal arms of England - as the arms for the town during the reign of the Plantagenet king Edward I. The town's medieval corporate seal bore the legend: 'Since I bear arms for the King without charge, I am a free port' (Regis ut arma rego libera portus ego).