Herne Bay Museum and Gallery
Georgian premises in Conservation Area
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| Established | 1932 as Herne Bay Records Society 1936: 53 Mortimer St, Herne Bay 1939: Library, Herne Bay High St 1996: 12 William St, Herne Bay |
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| Location | 12 William Street, Herne Bay, Kent |
| Type | Local history museum, history of local tourism, art gallery, heritage centre |
| President | (of Herne Bay Historical Records Society:) Mr J. A Fishpool |
| Public transit access |
Herne Bay railway station; Stagecoach for buses |
| Website | Canterbury Museums: Herne Bay Museum and Gallery |
The Seaside Museum Herne Bay is a local museum in Herne Bay, Kent, England. It was established in 1932 and is notable for being a seaside tourist attraction featuring local archaeological and social history, for featuring the history of the town as a tourist resort, for its local art exhibitions, and for its World War II bouncing bomb. Admission is free to local residents but an entry fee is charged to visitors. The management of the Museum was awarded by Canterbury City Council to the Herne Bay Museum Trust, who reopened it in July 2015 as The Seaside Museum Herne Bay.
The museum was originally established in 1932 as Herne Bay Records Society (known as Herne Bay Historical Records Society from 1988). From 1936 to 1939 the exhibits were in the hall at 53 Mortimer Street, Herne Bay, and from 1939 the museum was sited in the High Street above the Public Library. It moved to its present no. 12 William Street site in 1996. The William Street premises is a Georgian building now in a Conservation Area, and William Street was the main shopping street until at least 1883. It was run for years by local historian, Harold Gough, and is funded and administered by Canterbury City Council. The exhibits are owned by Herne Bay Historical Records Society, and loaned to Canterbury City Council museums service. The museum was a Canterbury City Council Mystery Shopper Awards 2009 silver award winner. The gallery hosts local art exhibitions, and there is a free events programme.
Dr Thomas Armstrong Bowes MA MD FSA (1869–1954) was a local medical doctor, local historian, antiquarian and collector. He rescued stone tools, pottery and artefacts turned up by workmen and builders in the area, benefiting greatly from the constant excavations of F.W.J. Palmer who was Surveyor to the Council between 1891 and 1915. He photographed local historical artefacts to make lantern slides for his lectures. He retired in 1930 and founded the Herne Bay Records Society and Museum in 1932, and donated much of his collection in 1936 to the museum, where it was housed in the hall at 53 Mortimer Street. He was president of the HBRS from 1949 to 1951.
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