PRESTON, a parish in the hundred of FAVERSHAM,
lathe of SCRAY, county of KENT, f a mile (S.) from
Faversham, containing 351 inhabitants. The living is a
vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Canterbury,
rated in the king's books at £8. 12. 6., and in
the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The
church, dedicated to St. Catherine, is principally in the
early style of English architecture, with a tower and
spire at the east end of the south aisle; on the north
side of the chancel is a sumptuous altar-tomb of black
and white marble, in memory of Roger Boyle, Esq., and
his wife Joan, ancestors of the Earls of Cork; there are
also some sepulchral brasses of the fifteenth century.
In a school, founded by Thomas Smith, in 1730, thirteen
children are taught to read for about £10 per annum,
arising from various bequests.