Benjamin Adkins (c1831-1908), the architect of many of Faversham’s finest Victorian buildings, In 1868, he designed a house for himself and his family, the handsome Newton Lodge, in Newton Road, now marked with a Faversham plaque.
Qualifying ARIBA in 1869, Adkins became Faversham's first architect. Among his many buildings are Davington School, and the purpose-built offices of the Shepherd Neame brewery at 16-17 Court Street, complete with hop motif around the door. The portion at No 17 was built first, in 1869, following a decade of increased production by the brewery after the coming of the railway to Faversham in 1858 had allowed it to transport ales more easily to the London market.

He also designed the splendid 13 Market Place with its heavily carved red brick ornamentation reflecting Flemish influence and being a fine example of local brickwork of the Victorian era.
Adkins’s other work includes the 1889 Faversham Gospel Mission, in Tanners Street and an addition to nearby Graveney's village school. Adkins oversaw, in 1887, the sensitive conversion, for masonic purposes, of the Old Grammar School, built three centuries earlier in 1587-88.

Towards the end of his life, he moved to Brighton, where he died in 1908.

"Benjamin Adkins (c.1831-1908), lived and worked in this house, which he designed in 1868. He was Architect for many local buildings and supervised restoration of the Old Grammar School in 1887"