Is it a roundabout? No.
Is it a traffic island? No.
So what is it?
It’s there at the bottom of Preston Street.

In 2017 the hexagon-shaped traffic island/roundabout/‘thing’ at the bottom of Preston Street looked a mess. No one Tim Stonor spoke to knew what it was for or even when it had been built. Where it had once been home to bollards and signposts, these had since been removed and patched up with dabs of tarmac. What was left was a sorry sight of granite blocks, blue bricks and blacktop. 

There was, quite reasonably, some talk about getting rid of the hexagon: either bricking it over or replacing the remaining granite blocks with tarmac. But it struck Tim that the island was there, that it was unusual, that it seemed to make some drivers pause and think about how they should negotiate it - and that it might perhaps stay. 

So it then seemed that the appropriate and perhaps obvious thing to do would be to restore the island. But given that there was no need for a central lamppost or bollards, the question remained as to what should go in the middle of the hexagon. Tim settled on the idea of a stone or, borrowing from the terminology of the cathedral-builders, a ‘boss’. Whereas bosses are typically seen high up in medieval vaulting, at the intersection of ribs, Preston Street’s boss would sit at ground level, at the meeting of the three brick arms.

What should go on the stone? It seemed the best, most appropriate device would be the crest of the town. The Faversham Society agreed to pay for the stone, and for Clive Sherwood to make it and Faversham Town Council had KCC install it.

If you love Faversham, join us. We seek to Cherish the Past, Adorn the Present, Create for the Future