Guildhall Museum, Rochester

The Rochester Guildhall stands in the High Street in Rochester, Kent. It is a Grade I listed building from the late 17th century. The front shows four bays with an open ground floor for markets. Above, four windows bear white plaques marking the building’s completion and a donation by Sir Stafford Fairborne. A bell-turret and an 18th-century warship weather vane sit at roof level. Wings were added in 1838 and 1893, extending the structure. The guildhall is worth visiting for its historic role and fine interiors. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell gave the plaster ceilings to the council chamber and staircase in 1695. Charles Dickens featured the council chamber in his novel Great Expectations. The building later housed a civil defence headquarters in the 1930s. Since 1979 it has been home to the Guildhall Museum, which moved from Eastgate House. Inside the museum are artefacts from Rochester’s past. A painting by Hendrik Frans van Lint shows a classical Italian landscape. Portraits of Sir Cloudesley Shovell and Sir Stafford Fairborne hang on the walls. The collection covers prehistoric times to the present day. The building itself remains a fine example of 17th-century architecture.