Faversham is close to the A2 road, a historically important route from London to Canterbury and the Channel ports. The route began as an ancient trackway which the Romans later paved and marked as "" (Second Route) on the Antonine Itinerary. The Anglo-Saxons named it "Wæcelinga Stræt" (Watling Street) and it was marked as such by Matthew Paris in his "Schema Britannie" in 1250. The road continued to be an important thoroughfare, and is shown next to Faversham on Philip Symonson's map of Kent published in 1596.