Museum of Canterbury

The Canterbury Heritage Museum stood in the 12th-century Poor Priests' Hospital beside the River Stour. The building began as a stone house for a tanner and his family before becoming an almshouse for old and poor priests in the 12th century. Over time it served as a school, poorhouse, workhouse and clinic. The museum opened in 1987 after restoration revealed its crown-post roof. It displayed Canterbury’s history from pre-Roman times to the present. Highlights included the Canterbury Cross, an 850 AD Saxon brooch, and the Canterbury Pendant, a Saxon silver sundial linked to St Dunstan. The museum also housed the Invicta locomotive and a Victorian collection in the 1900 House wing. Interactive exhibits let visitors examine bones with forensic reconstructions and use a microscope or treasure chest. Families could take part in events like a James Bond centenary celebration and a Rupert Bear Day with the cartoon’s illustrator. The Rupert Bear Museum featured first-edition annuals and children’s activities, while the Bagpuss and Clangers display included props from the original TV shows. The Poor Priests’ Hospital’s medieval chapel and solar added to the setting, with later additions like chimneys and upper floors visible in the restored interior.