As part of Open Faversham we have got together with some of the resident artists based here at Creek Creative to put on our very first outside pop up art exhibition to celebrate some of the people and stories from Faversham, past and present.
Arthur Percival
Faversham resident Arthur Percival was one of a group of like minded volunteers, that co-founded the Faversham Society in 1962 after having saved (a then very run down) Abbey Street from the town planners and convincing Faversham Town Council that they should buy properties at risk and sell them at a minimal profit to owners that undertook to restore them. The project was a true success and even attracted County and central government funding to provide grants to owners wishing to restore their properties in Abbey Street. Though other parts of the town still faced the threat of demolition. So it was felt that the a pressure group was needed to ensure policies were put in place to protect Faversham’s rich and diverse heritage.
Arthur was ideally placed to put the Faversham society together, his day job involved working for London County Council, liaising with The Royal Society of Arts scheme to install plaques where famous people were born or lived.
The Faversham Society was formed in 1962, as a Registered Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, working to preserve the best of the heritage and fabric of the historic town of Faversham and its surrounding parishes. Arthur was considered by many to be the face of the society for over 50 decades and was an avid collector and amassed an extensive archive of photographs, slides, glass plate negatives from the 1890s, correspondence, local history enquiries and written articles which he bequeathed to The Faversham Society.
By 1965 Arthur was working for the Civic Trust to help local amenity societies throughout the country and he worked on the Civic Amenities Act of 1967, a bill which made conservation areas possible. Imagine how much heritage we could have lost if this act hadn’t come into place.
Arthur’s love of Faversham never faded, he continued to campaign for the town right up until his death in 2014. Arthur played a big part in campaigns to save the town’s health services, he was honorary editor of the of The Faversham Society’s ‘Faversham Papers’ for 40 years, as well as writing a weekly articles on different aspect of our town’s history for The Faversham News. He was so up to date with his writing, that he submitted his last two articles just days before his death, so his final two articles were published posthumously. Arthur also taught adult education classes on the history and architecture of the town for the Worker’s Educational Association, including his hugely enjoyable and popular ‘Jaunts’ course were students were able to explore properties that where not usually open to the public.
It was a great loss to Faversham loosing Arthur, we felt he had to be included as one of our ‘Faces of Faversham’. What he would make of being included, we can’t say. We hope that he would be pleased to be included to introduce a new audience to the work undertaken by The Faversham Society and to encourage more people to support them and get involved.
To find out more, visit The Faversham Society’s website here.
We will leave you with some words from Arthur himself. In an interview in February 2013 with the Faversham News, Arthur said: “Towns can never be perfect, but Faversham comes pretty close. Setting aside its superb heritage, where else today can you find so many essential facilities within easy walking distance of one another. Its strong sense of identity must be almost unrivalled, too. All this set in glorious, varied and unspoilt countryside. We’re truly blessed!”
Meet The Artists
Heidi Schaffner
Local resident and award winning Artist Heidi, paints animals from her travels. With fun pops of colour and texture her passion lies with supporting endangered animals and local communities, so Heidi was happy to get involved in Faces of Faversham.
Selling out at exhibitions has been amazing for Heidi but this year she turned her attention to teaching art so that others might find a mindfulness and enjoyment in creating. You can find her classes paint parties and workshops for all abilities online as well as commission inquiries.
Our pop up art exhibition has been put together in collaboration with Shore Way Marketing and the residents of Creek Creative as part of Open Faversham. If you have enjoyed this exhibition, or have any suggestions/improvements or would simply like to be involved please contact hello@shorewaymarketing.co.uk as we would like to develop this in the future to be and annual Street Art style exhibition.
