Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1897 to 1897

Monument Types

• SITE (Post Medieval - 1897 AD to 1897 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 944 HIGH STREET (North East Side)
Public Library & Museum TR 1457 NE 4/507 at Beaney Institute
II GV
2. Built in 1897 by A H Campbell. 2 storeys and basement. Stone plinth. Brick ground floor and timber-framed 1st floor with mosaic infilling. Tiled roof with large brick stack. 3 gables with elaborately carved bargeboards and central finial surmounted by weather vane. In the central gable are 2 stone putti supporting the legend "The Beaney Institute for the education of working men. Public Library and Museum". Curved braces and quatrefoil ornaments. Fine curved brackets support tile gable. The lst floor has 2 elaborate mullioned and transomed windows with leaded lights and a central oriel. Ground floor has 2 double segmental arched mullioned and transomed windows with terra cotta roundels of female figures representing Art and Science. Central doorcase has a penance tiled roof with elaborate carved cornice and brackets. Curved stone balustrade and steps. Beautifully decorated rainwater head.
The Public Library and Museum at Beaney Institute, Nos 20, 20A, 21, 24 & King's Bridge form a group.
Listing NGR: TR1486257898

Imported from the Canterbury UAD:
Both the Greyhound and The George and Dragon were inns on the site of the present Beaney Institute during the 19th century.
The history of the Greyhound was quite brief. Founded in 1842 it was closed by 1898.
The George and Dragon, formally THE GEORGE, was listed in the 1692 Licensing List, In the following year the inn was given 4 soldiers by the Billeting Officer.
Lists of innkeepers date from 1753, these include;
1795 Stephen Egglesden
1800 Ann Egglesden (widow)
1888 William Butler

The George and Dragon was one of the most important inns during the coaching era and was the arrival and departure point for 19 different carriers. It fell into decay after the arrival of the railways, as many former coaching inns did, and was closed and demolished to make way for the construction of the Beaney Institute.

There is a mention of the inn The Lion in 1831. In 1846 the license had lapsed and the inn was closed in 1849. It was sometimes called the Lion Hotel, and in some cases was refered to as the Old Medical Hall.

Innkeepers were;
1831 John Mintr
1844 Mr Fox

The Beaney Institue was opened offically 11th September 1898 by Mayor George Collard.

English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Ordnance Survey, 1874, 1st Edition Map of Canterbury 1874 (Map). SKE30106.

Enderby, H. M., 1950, The Inns of Canterbury Parts I & II, Lecture to the Canterbury Archaeological Society (Unpublished document). SKE29964.

Mattingly, N., 1990, Canterbury Scenes From the Past, A Pitkin Guide (Monograph). SKE29974.

Wilmot, E., 1992, Eighty Lost Inns of Canterbury (Monograph). SKE29747.

Sources and further reading