Canterbury Heritage Museum

The Canterbury Heritage Museum (formerly the Museum of Canterbury) was a museum in Stour Street, Canterbury, South East England, telling the history of the city. It was housed in the 12th-century Poor Priests' Hospital next to the River Stour. The museum exhibited the Canterbury Cross and contained a gallery dedicated to Rupert the Bear, whose creator Mary Tourtel lived in Canterbury. It held regular events and exhibitions of local and national interest. The museum closed in 2018. It has since re-opened as The Marlowe Kit; an escape room, exhibition and creative space.

Canterbury Heritage Museum
Museum of Canterbury
Museum frontage
Established1987
Dissolved2018
LocationStour Street, Canterbury, Kent
CT1 2NR
TypeLocal history museum, Children's museum, Heritage museum
Public transit accessRail: Canterbury West; Canterbury East
Buses: National Express, Stagecoach
Websitewww.canterbury-museums.co.uk

History

William Masters

The museum was founded by William Masters, a local nurseryman specializing in exotic plants, who went on to serve as Hon. Curator from 1823 to 1846.[1]

Poor Priests' Hospital

The museum was in the medieval Poor Priests' Hospital with two adjoining buildings, backing on to the River Stour.[2] From 1174 to 1207 the long, low block parallel to Stour Street was the stone house of a tanner, a rich minter and the minter's son, Alexander, who converted it into an almshouse in the name of the Virgin Mary for old and poor priests. The priests used the house as a hall, living, eating and sleeping around a central fire. In 1373 the solar and undercroft were added opposite the present gateway, to give privacy on the upper floor to the master of the hospital. At the other end of the original hall was the service quarter for servants with kitchen, pantry and buttery. Next to the solar is the Chapel of St Mary, which was designed as a single open space with a back kitchen. Two upper floors were later inserted, with windows and chimney. This set of buildings became secular in 1575: a school, poorhouse, workhouse and clinic. The museum was previously at the Beaney as the Heritage Museum, then was established in Stour Street in 1987 to celebrate local history, and the building restored to show the interior crown-post roof.[3]

Closure and reopening

The museum was closed in 2018 after visitor numbers had dropped from 30,000 to less than 9,000 over the previous five years.

A campaign was led by local institutions, including Canterbury Archaeological Trust, to keep it open.[4]

On 6 April 2019, the venue reopened with a year-long exhibition called The Marlowe Kit.[5]

Exhibits

Canterbury Heritage Museum
Modern replica brooch in the style of the Canterbury Cross

Exhibits in galleries and displays dated from pre-Roman to the present, and were arranged as a time walk from the earliest to latest, with a prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon display, medieval discovery gallery, Marlowe whodunit display, wartime Blitz experience, Joseph Conrad gallery, Bagpuss and Clangers display, Rupert Bear Museum, and an exhibitions gallery.[6] There were interactive displays involving a microscope, a treasure chest and World War II plane-spotting. There was also a wing housing The 1900 House Victorian collection.[2][7]

There was a tapestry, covering three walls, which showed the life-story of Thomas Becket. There was a display of bones found locally, with forensic analysis and reconstructed faces from the Meet the Ancestors show.[8] A prized exhibit in the Saxon gallery was the Canterbury Cross, an 850 AD Saxon brooch found in St Georges Street in 1867.[9][10][11] It is in the form of a consecration cross: traditionally one of twelve similar crosses marked on church walls to represent the apostles and the twelve anointings of the building by the bishop at consecration.[12][13]

Invicta locomotive

There was also furniture, household objects, arms and armour,[14] as well as the Canterbury Pendant: a Saxon silver portable sundial which was lent briefly in 2009 to Canterbury Cathedral for an exhibition.[15][16][17] It was made in the form of a pendant, is ascribed to the silversmith St Dunstan (909−988 AD), and could probably only indicate the time accurately at noon. It was used to measure the time of prayer. It was found in the Cathedral cloisters during excavations in 1948.[18][19][20][15] The Invicta locomotive was housed here.[21] Between 2009 and 2012, Canterbury Heritage Museum held many of The Beaney's exhibits during its refurbishment, including the Sir Basil Dixwell by Van Dyck bought for £1 million by Canterbury in 2004; Sir Basil had lived at Broome Park near Canterbury.[22][23]

Rupert Bear Museum
Rupert Bear exhibit

The Rupert Bear Museum was opened in 2003 with a £500,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant. The creator of Rupert Bear, Mary Tourtel, grew up and attended art school in Canterbury, and a 1921 first-edition Rupert annual was one of the exhibits. The Rupert Bear Museum involves activities for children on the themes of play, entertainment and education. It includes the Bagpuss and Clangers display with items from the original television shows, such as the Emily shop-window from the opening scene of Bagpuss, because its creators Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate filmed the programmes at Firmin's house near Canterbury.[24]

The museum was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Express Newspapers.[25]

Exhibitions, events and accessibility

Regular family interactive events were scheduled.[26] In June 2008 there was a two-day celebration of the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth and of the James Bond films.[27] In November 2008 there was a Rupert Bear Day, with the cartoon's new illustrator Stuart Trotter signing Rupert books.[28] In July 2009 the museum celebrated the anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first moonwalk in 1969. It was an interactive event with the public chatting to astronomers and an astrodome showing a 3D tour of night sky and Solar System.[29] In 2009 the museum celebrated an exhibition and a 40th anniversary of the Clangers TV show with two interactive events which included meetings with Peter Firmin, the show's co-creator.[30][31] Oliver Postgate, the other creator of Bagpuss and the Clangers, lived locally and died in 2008, but his creations were given to the museum during his lifetime.[32][33]

The museum was open seasonally between March and September and was also open during school holidays, with disabled access. An entrance fee was charged.[34][35]

References
  1. Desmond, R. (1994). Dictionary of British & Irish Botanists & Horticulturists,  p.475. Taylor & Francis, and Natural History Museum, London. ISBN 0-85066-843-3 Retrieved on December 18, 2016
  2. "Canterbury City Council". Museum of Canterbury with Rupert Bear Museum. CCC. 2009. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  3. "trytel.com". Poor priests hospital, Canterbury. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  4. Kent Messenger as Kent Online: "Campaign to stop the closure of the Canterbury Heritage Museum in Stour Street has widespread support", Gerry Warren 27 February 2017 The official Museums and Galleries website gives no mention of the museum or its closure
  5. MacSwan, Anna (6 April 2019). "Canterbury's Marlowe Kit launches first exhibition on Kent's Remarkable Writers". Kent Messenger. Canterbury, Kent, England. Retrieved 5 May 2019 – via Kent Online.
  6. "Hillside: North East". Museum of Canterbury. 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  7. "PBS". The 1900 House. 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  8. "Tripadvisor". Museum of Canterbury (Formerly Heritage Museum): Traveler Reviews. 1 March 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  9. Brent, J. (1860). Canterbury in the olden time, pl xvii 1 (source for date of Canterbury Cross) (2nd ed.). p. 47.
  10. Jane Alexander (2009). The Body, Mind, Spirit Miscellany: The Ultimate Collection of Fascinations, Facts, Truths, and Insights. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-84483-837-0.
  11. "AboutBritain.com". Museum of Canterbury with Rupert Bear Museum. 1999–2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  12. "Selyaku.com". Canterbury Cross. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  13. "Selyaku.com". Consecration Cross. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  14. "The Art Fund". Museum of Canterbury. 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  15. Information from Canterbury Museums Department
  16. Hickey, Julia (2006). "TimeTravel-Britain.com". Canterbury: Still the Perfect Pilgrimage!. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  17. "Sundials". Sun Time and Clock Time ( Gnomonics): Photo of portable Saxon sundial. Archived from the original on 1 March 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  18. Lucas, Rebecca (2009). "Medieval-Baltic". The Role of Portable Sundials in Arabic and European medieval astronomy, from SCA magazine "Cockatrice", issue 35. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  19. "Sundials on the Internet: The Bulletin of the British Sundial Society". Bulletin Volume 13(i) March 2001 (names Canterbury Pendant twice). March 2001. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  20. "Echoes of History". 10th century pocket sundial. 25 April 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  21. "Historic-UK.com". Destinations UK: The Cathedral City of Canterbury. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  22. "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". £5.98m boost for Beaney plans. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  23. Roberts, Jo (7 April 2004). "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". City buys £1m portrait. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  24. "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". Easter opening for Rupert Bear museum. 14 April 2003. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  25. "Canterbury City Council Online". Rupert Bear Museum. CCC. 2009. Archived from the original on 1 November 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  26. "Canterbury City Council Online". What's On at the Museum of Canterbury. CCC. 2010. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  27. Hoople, Matt (4 June 2008). "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". Bond fans brush up on hero's creator. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  28. Warren, Gerry (11 November 2008). "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". Rupert fans' big day. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  29. "Kentish Gazette". Canterbury Museum transports visitors back to the time of the moon landing. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  30. Irwin, Dan (9 February 2009). "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". Video: Bagpuss show attracts new fans. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  31. Walker, Joe (16 November 2009). "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". Museum of Canterbury celebrates 40th birthday of children's TV show The Clangers. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  32. "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". Bagpuss creator Postgate dies. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  33. "Kent Messenger: Kent Online". See you later Oliver: Peter Firmin's personal memories of Postgate. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  34. Blower, Nerissa (20 January 2011). "Prices soar in bid to save museums". Herne Bay Times. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  35. Blower, Nerissa. "Canterbury City Council may increase entry prices in bid to save museums". This is Kent. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
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