Canterbury

Properties and events in Canterbury

Before heading out for your Heritage Open Days visit, please check entries for last-minute changes.

Print selected events below

Canterbury Cathedral Historic Graffiti Tour

The Precincts, Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2EH
In person
Pre-booking required

A guided tour of Canterbury Cathedral’s mysterious wall markings in the Eastern Crypt, depicting religious pictures and symbols. The tour will explore the origin of these marks and talk about who might have made them.

Canterbury Cathedral Memorial Garden & Bastion Chapel Tour

The Precincts, Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2EH
In person
Pre-booking required

A guided tour of Canterbury Cathedral’s Memorial Garden, including a rare opportunity to visit the tiny medieval Bastion Chapel set in the city walls.

Canterbury Cathedral Precincts and Gardens Tour

The Precincts, Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2EH
In person
Pre-booking required

A guided tour of Canterbury Cathedral’s outside spaces including the Great Cloister, Chapter House and monastery ruins, learning about the earliest inhabitants of the site, the monks, and how the public gardens were created and are cared for today.

Canterbury Friends Meeting House

Friends Meeting House, 6 The Friars, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2AS
In person
Pre-booking not required

Quaker meeting house of high aesthetic value on a site of high significance. Visit to the building and grounds, displays and refreshments.

Canterbury Old Synagogue

The Old Synagogue, 33-34 King Street, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2AJ
In person
Pre-booking not required

A unique, small 19th-century Synagogue, now used by The King’s School as a music centre. Built in 1847, visible from King’s Street, the building is strikingly Egyptian in style, maintaining many of its original Eygptian revival motifs.

Fordwich Town Hall

Fordwich Town Hall, Kings Street, Fordwich, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 0DB
In person
Pre-booking not required

A medieval town hall in the beautiful and ancient port on the River Great Stour, two miles downstream from the City of Canterbury in Kent.

Historical walks in Old Park and Chequers Wood, Canterbury

Meet at Northgate Community Centre, Military Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1YX
In person
Pre-booking required

The Old Park and Chequers Wood is a large, beautiful open space on the outskirts of Canterbury with a long history, a wealth of wildlife and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This guided walk will offer a chance to explore its many pleasures.

Holy Innocents' Church, Adisham

Holy Innocents' Church, Pond Hill, Adisham, Kent, CT3 3LH
In person
Pre-booking not required

This Grade 1 listed church was founded c. 624. The present building - flint with stone dressings - dates from 1150 to 1350 - and the painted medieval wooden reredos was salvaged from Canterbury Cathedral by Archdeacon Battley, Rector 1684-1700.

Kent Museum of Freemasonry, Canterbury

Kent Museum of Freemasonry, St Peter's Place, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2DA
In person
Pre-booking required

Since 1933, Canterbury's Museum of Freemasonry has housed an amazing collection of Masonic and non-Masonic artefacts, and over 8,000 books on freemasonry, local history, heraldry and archaeology.

Littlebourne’s 14th Century Barn and Art Exhibition

The Barn, Church Road, Littlebourne, Canterbury, Kent, Ct3 1UA
In person
Pre-booking not required

Littlebourne’s Grade 1 listed barn is one of the finest, oldest and best preserved aisled barns in the UK. Dating from 1340, it was built on land belonging then to St. Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury. It regularly hosts a range of events.

Peter Cushing - Gentleman of Horror

Oxford Street, Whitstable Museum, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 1DB
In person
Pre-booking not required

Peter and Helen Cushing purchased a cottage by the sea in 1959. They called Whitstable "The Village" and recuperated here from their frenetic lives on stage and in film and television. Residents tell many complimentary stories about the Cushings.

Physical & Spiritual: Pathways of St Martin's Church

St Martin's Church, North Holmes Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1QU
In person
Pre-booking not required

An Art and Music event in the heart of the Ancient Church of St Martin’s. Local artist Kirstie Atkin Craske and musician Gareth Balch rejoin forces to take visitors on a journey of spirituality and history through the arts.

Queen Bertha's Walking Tour

St Martin's Church, 1 North Holmes Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1QJ
In person
Pre-booking required

Retrace the daily walk Queen Bertha of Kent took from St Martin’s Church, via St Augustine’s Abbey to Canterbury Cathedral. Learn about the re-introduction of Christianity to this area by St Augustine in the 6th century.

Reculver Towers Open House

Reculver Towers, Reculver Lane, Herne Bay, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 6SS
In person
Pre-booking not required

The towers are open for the first time in many years after an extensive conservation project. Meet the team to learn more of the history while exploring inside the towers.

Romans Beneath Your Feet

The Roman Museum, 11A Butchery Lane, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2JR
In person
Pre-booking required

Step back in time and beneath the streets of the modern city to discover evidence of the bustling Roman town of Durovernum Cantiacorum. View the remains of the important Roman town house around which Canterbury Roman Museum is built.

St Dunstan's Church, Canterbury

St Dunstan's Church, London Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8LS
In person
Pre-booking not required

A beautiful, mainly Medieval church on the Pilgrim Route into Canterbury. The head of St Thomas More lies within a vault in the Tudor Roper Chapel and the tower contains probably the oldest bell in the country still rung full-circle.

St John's Swalecliffe Open Day

St John's Parish Church, Swalecliffe Court Drive, Swalecliffe, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 2NN
In person
Pre-booking not required

Explore the rich history of St John's Church, Swalecliffe - 'the church by the sea'. Free activities for children and families throughout the day. Home made cakes and refreshments.

St Mary the Virgin Church, Fordwich, Canterbury

Church View, King Street, Fordwich, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 0DD
In person
Pre-booking not required

Church and churchyard trail.

St Mildred's Church, Canterbury

St Mildred's Church, 2 Church Ln, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2PP
In person
Pre-booking not required

The oldest church within the city walls of Canterbury.

St Peter's Anglican Church, Canterbury

St Peter's Anglican Church, 15 St Peter's Street, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2BQ
In person
Pre-booking not required

Medieval Church on the foundations of a Roman church. One of only two Anglican churches within the city walls still used for public worship.