More than a century of history draws to an end this week with the closure of the county town's adult education centre.

All the classes in the building in St Faith's Street in Maidstone are being transferred to a new venue at Oakwood House, Oakwood Park, after Easter, leaving another landmark building in the town centre with an uncertain future.

The centre, adjacent to Maidstone Museum, first opened in 1893 as The School for Science and Arts.

It was built by the then Maidstone Corporation to provide a permanent home for the arts and science classes that had already been running in the town since 1867 under the supervision of the Rev Henry Collis, (1835-1905), the vicar of St Philip's Church.

During its long history, the centre has seen many talented art students pass through its doors who went on to become famous, including sculptor James Butler and TV cartoonist Tony Hart, while pop artist David Hockney and portrait artist Ruskin Spear both taught at the facility.

The building was popular with artists because of its large and lofty windows in the art studio to the rear of the building.

Rev Collis's art classes initially started on January 29, 1867, and were held in the picture gallery of the museum in St Faith's Street, but quickly moved to the college buildings in College Avenue.

Among the early students was Frederick Ruck, the architect, who later went on to design parts of Sessions House in Maidstone.

Science classes were added in 1884, and by 1887 the new namely School of Science and Art was again re-housed, this time at the Archbishop's Palace, where two rooms were used for the art classes, and two for science.

In the early 1880s, a Royal Commission found that Britain was falling behind some of its continental rivals in the provision of "technical instruction" and so several Acts of Parliament were passed that made it possible for county and borough councils to levy a rate on property and a surcharge on beer and spirit sales to support scientific education.

It was the money raised under this Technical Instruction Act that enabled Maidstone Corporation to erect the the building in St Faith's Street, which was designed, appropriately by a former art school pupil, Albert Smith.

The foundation stone was laid by the Mayor, Alderman Spencer, on July 6, 1893, and the two storey building was completed the following summer. The ground floor was occupied by the science classes, with art on the first floor.

There was even a life studio, with a dressing room attached to it for the use of models. The building was what we would today call "state of the art" - in that it had electricity when many buildings were still lit by gas lamps.

The corporation renamed it the Maidstone Municipal School of Science and Art, although Henry Collis remained on the directing committee.

Classes started on September 11, 1894, and the building was officially opened by the Duke of Cambridge on October 16.

The cost of construction, including all fittings, was a modest £11,000.

By 1895, the school had 520 students with the new subjects of wood carving, agriculture, hygiene, botany, magnetism and electricity added to the curriculum.

A year later the school was was re-named the Maidstone Municipal Technical School.

At the turn of the century in 1902, the Education Act transferred responsibility for adult education to Kent County Council and the county awarded a number of scholarships to promising students to study there.

The scholarships were awarded to both men and women since the college had been co-educational from the start.

Other courses continued to be added, including paper-making, dressmaking, painting and decorating, silver-smithing, weaving and even journalism.

Another name-change in 1923 saw the building become the Maidstone School of Arts and Crafts.

The celebrated still life artist Gerald Norden was principal of the college in 1947. Shortly after, the school made one further name change to become the Maidstone College of Art, with art history added to the curriculum.

James Butler and Tony Hart were both students at the school between 1948 and 1950.

Noted children's book illustrator William Stobbs became the school's principal in 1958, while in the early 1960s the teaching staff included David Hockney, Ruskin Spear, lithographer Edwin La Dell, sculptors Elisabeth Frink and Herbert Dalwood, printmaker Alistair Grant, and portrait artist Carlos Sancha, all prominent figures in the art world.

Increasingly cramped conditions led to the opening of new premises in 1968 for both the Maidstone College of Art (now known as the University for the Creative Arts) and the Maidstone College of Technology at Oakwood Park, leaving the building in St Faith's Street to continue as an adult education centre, offering classes in subjects such as dance, drawing photography, computing ceramics, cake decorating, fitness, modern languages and creative writing.

Now the adult education centre is itself to move to Oakwood Park off Tonbridge Road, where its new facilities will feature a photography dark room, large pottery studio with a separate kiln room, a textiles room, printmaking studio, two ICT suites and a big outdoor space for courses outside in the summer.

You can sign up to courses at the new centre here.

KCC has been unable to say what plans it has for the old building in St Faith's Street.