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Guildhall Museum
The Rochester Guildhall was built in 1687 and is one of the
finest 17th-century civic buildings in Kent. Its staircase and main
hall have magnificent plaster ceilings, given in 1695 by Admiral
Sir Cloudsley Shovell, who was the Member of Parliament for the
city of Rochester at the time.
- Open 10am-4.30pm (4pm last admission) Tuesdays to
Sundays.
- Open Bank Holiday Monday, 26 August, 2013.
- Free entry (Check summer activies as a small charge applies to
Hunt the Gizmo)
Check out the video above for a virtual tour of the museum
or read the full version of the Guildhall Museum
collections feature which appears in the April
May 2013 edition of Medway Matters.
Gadgets and Gizmos exhibition 
Check out Gadgets and Gizmos, an amazing collection of
eccentric, ingenious and unusual inventions from the
past, runs until 28 February 2014. Entry is free.
Summer activities at the Guildhall
Medway River Festival 2013 
- Build a mini Medway mud barge At the River
Festival on Saturday 6th July
- No need to book
- All materials supplied
- For children of all ages and abilities
- Free event at the Chatham Library from 10.30am until
12.30pm
- Also at 2pm, a talk by the museum's Education Officer "An
Introduction to the History of the River Medway" This talk
will focus on the working life of the people who worked on the
river
Discovery Zone
The Discovery Zone open every day except
Mondays between 30 July and 1 September 2013 from 11am to 1pm; and
from 2pm to 4pm
Handle objects from the collection and try out our
interactive exhibits:
- Make a shadow portrait
- Dip into an archaeological dig
- Magnify some minibeasts
- Listen to a sound quiz
- Free entry
The museum
The museum was founded in 1897, in honour of Queen Victoria's
Diamond Jubilee. It was first set up in Eastgate House further
along the High Street and was moved into the Guildhall in 1979.
The wide-ranging collections are housed in two separate
buildings, the Guildhall (1687) and the River Medway Conservancy
Board Building (1909).
The museum's wheelchair-accessible entrance gallery contains a
small shop selling souvenirs items, a reception desk, and an
attractive introductory exhibition highlighting the role that River
Medway has played in shaping the environmental and human history of
Medway. Text accompanying this exhibition is reproduced in English,
French and Dutch.
All visitors (including those with mobility difficulties, and
wheelchair users) can access electronic media in the gallery which
enables them to view short films highlighting key features of the
museum displays.
Highlights of the displays include:
- a full-size reconstruction of part of a Medway prison
hulk;
- archaeological objects that visitors can touch;
- civic silver and regalia from Medway's past;
- the most complete set of 18th-century cabinet maker's tools in
the world;
- a Victorian drawing room and kitchen;
- a large selection of paintings and prints of the area;
- the Dickens Discovery Room;
- the Rochester "Riverside Eye" camera interactive.
Free quizzes for children and families are always available.
Borrow a clipboard and pencil and follow a themed trail around the
museum.
The Medway Conservancy Board Building of the museum is
now closed between 1pm and 2pm each day.
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