Beaney House of Art and Knowledge facts for kids
The building from the front
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| Established | 1899 Closed for refurbishment 2009−2012 |
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| Location | 18 High Street, Canterbury, Kent CT1 2RA, England |
| Type | Museum, art gallery, library, regimental museum |
| Public transit access | Rail: Canterbury West, Canterbury East Buses: National Express, Stagecoach |
The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge is the main museum, library, and art gallery in Canterbury, Kent, England. It's in a special old building called a Grade II listed building. Before it closed for updates in 2009, it was known as the Beaney Institute or the Royal Museum and Art Gallery. It reopened with its new name in September 2012. The Canterbury City Council owns and runs the building, museum, and art gallery. Kent County Council is in charge of the library. They work together to make the Beaney a great place to visit.
Contents
History of the Beaney
How the Beaney Building Was Built
The Beaney building looks like an old Tudor house, but it was actually designed in 1897 by A.H. Campbell. It opened on September 11, 1899, and cost £15,000. Dr. James George Beaney gave £10,000 for the institute. The Canterbury City Council added £5,000 so it could also hold the city's existing museum and library.
Before this, the city's museum and library started in 1825. It moved to the Beaney building in 1898 and was called the "Royal Museum and Art Gallery." Dr. Beaney wanted his portraits to be in the main hall. Other people also helped. Joshua Cox gave £1,050. The Slater family helped build a new art gallery wing in 1934.
The building had a free library and reading rooms downstairs. The museum and art gallery were upstairs. The basement held natural history items and storage. Some display cases came from the British Museum. The Victoria and Albert Museum and Royal Doulton also lent items for display.
The Beaney from 1900 to 2009
From 1899 to 1913, Francis Bennett-Goldney was the honorary curator. The library grew a lot between 1913 and 2008. It went from 12,000 books to two million! This included old texts from the 1600s and 1700s, maps, and local guides. The library had special rooms for newspapers, journals, and magazines. It also had sections for borrowing books and for research.
The Beaney building even inspired a film! In the 1944 movie A Canterbury Tale, the director Michael Powell used the Beaney as inspiration for the "Colpeper Institute." In 1957, the Beaney celebrated 100 years of writer Joseph Conrad with an exhibition of his books.
The gallery also hosted art shows. From December 2006 to February 2007, there was an exhibition of Giles cartoons. For a long time, artists have drawn on the pavement in front of the building. Craig Taylor was one of the last artists to do this. When he passed away in 2009, people left flowers on the pavement to remember him.
Big Changes: The Refurbishment
The Beaney closed for a big update from 2009 to 2012. This project was meant to make that part of the city a lively cultural area. The Heritage Lottery Fund gave £6.5 million for the project. This money helped create more space, new facilities, better displays, and an extension. It also added easy access for people with disabilities, a glass lift, and educational areas.
The extra space meant that many collections that were hidden away could finally be shown to the public. The plan also included making the art gallery bigger and adding more rooms for special exhibitions.
The library also got a larger space for books. There were plans for a children's library and a special area for teenagers. Local people, including teachers, helped plan these changes. The Canterbury City Council, Kent County Council, and other groups helped fund the project. The total cost was £11.5 million.
Before closing, the museum held a "Hungry for Heritage" exhibition. Young people created pictures of the exhibits they would miss. These pictures were shown in Canterbury cafes while the Beaney was closed. The building officially closed on February 28, 2009. Workers had to carefully remove all the exhibits. They even had trouble moving Sidney Cooper's huge painting of Charlie the Bull from the stairwell!
While the Beaney was closed, the library's services moved temporarily to Ede's Garage. This temporary library had books for everyone, computers, DVDs, CDs, and audiobooks. Children's story times and other community events continued. The building reopened in 2012, looking brand new and ready for visitors.
What You Can See: The Collections
Paintings and Art
The Beaney gallery is famous for its art by local artists. This includes works by Thomas Sidney Cooper and his family members. It also has older European oils from the 1500s onwards. The De Zoete collection, given in 1906, features English and Dutch artists.
The museum once had a Van Dyck painting and a Wheel of Fortune by Edward Burne-Jones. It has many engravings and prints of old Canterbury. There are also engravings of India and old Italian engravings.
The gallery's collection includes paintings from the Norwich School. You can also see a 16th-century portrait of Geoffrey Chaucer. There are also sculptures by Jacob Epstein and Henry Weekes. One important painting bought in 2004 was Sir Basil Dixwell by Anthony van Dyck. It cost £1 million! While the Beaney was closed, some of these artworks were stored safely or shown at the Museum of Canterbury.
Original Collections and Ancient Finds
The Beaney's original collections included English and European ceramics. It also had oriental porcelain and Anglo-Saxon grave jewelry from Kent. There were stuffed animals, like birds, given by S. R. Lushington and the Hammond family. The large, 18th-century chandelier in the basement came from the cathedral.
The museum had collections of rocks, fossils, and natural history items. It also had items from different cultures. For example, it once had three Māori tattooed heads, which were returned to New Zealand in the 1990s.
You could also see two old runestones from Sandwich. One had "Raehaebul" carved on it. These might be some of the oldest Jutish tombstones ever found. There were also Ancient Greek bas relief tablets.
Another interesting item was St Augustine's Chair. This chair was thought to be where St Augustine sat in the 600s AD. It was given to the museum in 1899. However, newer research suggests the chair is from the 1700s. It is now on loan to a church.
One of the museum's most prized possessions was the Burghmote Horn. People say this horn called the city leaders to meetings from the time of Henry III until 1835. The museum also had old municipal maces from Fordwich. You could also see pilgrims' tokens, which were souvenirs from the shrine of Thomas Becket. In 1975, the museum received the ancient helmet from St Alphege Church.
Many prehistoric tools and Roman and Anglo-Saxon items found in Canterbury are now shared with other local museums. For example, a beautiful Anglo-Saxon glass beaker is now at Herne Bay Museum. Much of the Romano-British pottery and glass found in Canterbury is now at the Roman Museum. The remaining collections are stored at the Museum of Canterbury, with some items on display.
The Buffs Regiment Collection
In the 1960s, the history records of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) were in the West Gate Towers Museum. They moved to the Buffs Gallery at Beaney House in 1978. The Beaney had a room showing the regiment's history from the 1500s to 1961. In 2000, the Buffs collection moved to the National Army Museum in London.
Some items from the collection are on display at the National Army Museum. Others are now back on display in the new exhibits at the Beaney itself. The collection includes pictures, trophies, uniforms, weapons, and medals. These medals include Victoria Crosses, which tell stories of battles from North Africa and Burma to France and Germany. There are also items about East Kent's volunteer soldiers.
Images for kids
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Dr J.G. Beaney
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Beaney Institute, 1899–1914
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Tudor Revival entrance
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Temporary library building in Pound Lane
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The 'People & Places' room
