Guildhall Museum, Rochester

]] The first guildhall in Rochester was located further south along the High Street on a site where the Clock House is now situated. The current building, the second guildhall, was constructed in 1697. Wings were added on the right in 1838 and on the left in 1893. Both the council chamber and the staircase have magnificent plaster ceilings, which were given in 1695 by Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, who was the Member of Parliament for the City of Rochester at the time. In the 1930s, in anticipation of the Second World War, a civil defence headquarters was established in the basement of the building. For much of the 20th century, the council chamber was the meeting place of the City of…

The museum was originally established at Eastgate House, further south along the High Street, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The collection includes artefacts associated with Rochester from prehistoric times to the present day. a portrait of Sir Cloudesley Shovell by Michael Dahl and a portrait of Sir Stafford Fairborne by Godfrey Kneller.