A campaign to restore a monument linked to an iconic Chatham figure has smashed its fundraising target.

Thomas Fletcher Waghorn, born in Chatham, pioneered a new postal route from Britain to India, dramatically cutting travel time from four to five months down to 30 to 45 days.

Today, he is best known as a recognisable statue in Railway Street, often decorated with a traffic cone or two.

Waghorn lived in Snodland for several years, where he later died in 1850 and was buried in the grounds of All Saints Church.

But over 175 years later, his gravestone has become so worn it is now “barely legible”, prompting the Snodland Historical Society to launch a campaign for a much-needed restoration.

Now the society has shared the good news that it has reached its funding target, raising over £1,300 to restore the deteriorating monument back to its former glory.

Residents from far and wide chipped in, including a £500 donation from an ancestor of Thomas Waghorn living in Australia, whose family emigrated there in the 19th century.

The historical society, run by chairman Matt Johnson, says the restoration work should begin in June.

Final approval from the Diocese of Rochester has been sought, whilst James Horton Memorials – a stonemason based in Gravesend – is lined up to carry out the work.

Waghorn joined the Royal Navy at just 12 years old in Chatham, before he famously developed an overland route across Egypt to improve communication links between Britain and the East.

Alongside the statue in Railway Street, just down the road is a Wetherspoons pub called The Thomas Waghorn and in nearby Luton there is a residential street named Waghorn Street.

Snodland Historical Society, founded in 1997, hopes the gravestone restoration will help preserve Waghorn’s legacy.

The society also runs the Snodland Millennium Museum in the aptly named Waghorn Road, featuring historical resources of the local area and it is free of charge to visit.

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