Canterbury Roman Museum

The Canterbury Roman Museum sits beneath street level and preserves an actual Roman archaeological layer, allowing you to step directly into the remains of Roman Canterbury, known as Durovernum Cantiacorum. The museum displays artefacts found during excavations in the city, including pottery, jewellery, tools, coins, and fragments of decorated wall plaster. A highlight is a preserved section of a Roman mosaic floor from a wealthy house, visible in its original position below the city streets.

The museum occupies a 1896 Victorian building and uses the excavated Roman levels to create a vivid sense of life in a busy Roman trading town of the 1st to 4th centuries. Displays explain Canterbury's role as a major provincial port and crossroads, and its eventual decline during the late Roman period. The setting itself is evocative, with the vaulted brick ceiling and dimly lit displays creating an authentic excavation atmosphere. For anyone interested in Roman Britain or Canterbury's long history, the museum provides essential context for understanding how the medieval city grew atop these ancient foundations.