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Canterbury Shaker Village

Canterbury Shaker Village
General View of Canterbury Shaker Village.jpg
Shaker Village c. 1920
Canterbury Shaker Village is located in New Hampshire
Canterbury Shaker Village
Nearest city 288 Shaker Road, Canterbury, New Hampshire
Built 1792
NRHP Reference # 75000129
Significant dates
Added to NRHP June 17, 1975
Designated NHLD April 19, 1993
Canterbury Shaker Village
Spiritual name: Holy Ground
Shaker community
Bishopric Canterbury
Established 1792
Declared a National Historic Landmark 1993
Population (1840)
 • Maximum 260
Families Church, Second, North, West

Canterbury Shaker Village is a historic site and museum in Canterbury, New Hampshire, United States. It was one of a number of Shaker communities founded in the 19th century.

It is one of the most intact and authentic surviving Shaker community sites, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993.

The site is operated by a non-profit organization established in 1969 to preserve the heritage of the Canterbury Shakers. Canterbury Shaker Village is an internationally known, non-profit museum and historic site with 25 original Shaker buildings, four reconstructed Shaker buildings and 694 acres (2.81 km2) of forests, fields, gardens and mill ponds under permanent conservation easement. Canterbury Shaker Village "is dedicated to preserving the 200-year legacy of the Canterbury Shakers and to providing a place for learning, reflection and renewal of the human spirit."

Visitors learn about the life, ideals, values and legacy of the Canterbury Shakers through tours, programs, exhibits, research and publications. Village staff, largely volunteer, conduct tours, and its restaurant serves traditional Shaker lunches and dinners spring, summer and fall.

The Canterbury site was one of two communities existing in what was known as the New Hampshire Bishopric, which contained Canterbury village and the Shaker Village of Enfield. A bishopric was composed of two or more communities in the same area or geographical location. They were designed as a way to organize communications and events amongst villages and acted as an administrative unit, which represented the governing body of the United Society of Believers.

In 1782 Israel Chauncey and Ebeneezer Cooley from the Mount Lebanon village of Shakers traveled to Canterbury and converted several prominent figures of the community. These figures included Benjamin and Mary Whitcher and the Wiggin and Sanborn families, who later donated land to house the Canterbury Village community of Shakers. Through a donation of land from local community members, the Canterbury Village was founded in 1792, led by Father Job Bishop. The village expanded over time, and in 1803 there were 159 members in three families. Nearly fifty years later in 1850, the site contained 3,000 acres (12 km2) with a community of 300 housed in 100 buildings.


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