This guide sorts the museums, galleries and collections of North Kent and Medway by what you want to see, rather than by town. It takes in Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Dartford and Eynsford, with a note on Swanscombe. Each place has its own InKent page with the address and details.
Local history in historic buildings
The Guildhall Museum is Medway Council’s museum in Rochester’s 17th century Guildhall on the High Street, covering local history, the River Medway and the prison hulks. It costs £5 and opens Tuesday to Saturday; it is closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Eastgate House, also on the High Street, is a Grade I listed townhouse built in 1590, with Charles Dickens’ Swiss chalet in its gardens. It was £7 at the last check. Visit Medway lists weekend, bank holiday and some extra school holiday and pre-Christmas openings, but Medway Council’s directory gives different days, so check before you go.
Roman and prehistoric finds
Lullingstone Roman Villa, Eynsford, is cared for by English Heritage and known for its mosaics, a heated bath suite and rooms used for pagan and then Christian worship. Galleries overlook the remains and display finds. The villa is partly closed for conservation, so the remains are seen from a viewing window. Opening is Thursday to Sunday, with free entry for now and an optional suggested £3 donation.
Dartford Borough Museum is in the Grade II listed Carnegie library building at the entrance to Central Park. Its displays run from Stone Age finds at Barnfield Pit in Swanscombe, with a cast of the Swanscombe Skull, to a reconstruction of Kerr’s draper’s shop with its overhead cash railway. It is free and opens in the afternoons, Monday to Saturday except Wednesdays: 1pm to 4.45pm, and 1pm to 4pm on Saturdays.
The skull was found at what is now Swanscombe Heritage Park, a former quarry on Craylands Lane, and Dartford Borough Council dates it to about 400,000 years ago. The park is not a museum, and no charge is listed.
Military and naval history
The Royal Engineers Museum on Prince Arthur Road, Brompton, has galleries, a First World War trench display and a cafe. Access is step-free through most of it, apart from two steps into the trench. It opens Tuesday to Sunday and bank holiday Mondays, 10am to 5pm, last entry 4pm, and adult admission was £17.50 when we checked.
The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a former Royal Navy dockyard with three historic warships, the Ropery, museum galleries and Call the Midwife filming locations. An adult ticket was £29 online or £32.50 on the door, valid for a year from your first visit, and no single-visit ticket is listed. It is closed on 9 and 10 November, then closed for winter from 16 November apart from Mission Christmas dates, reopening in February 2027.
The Paddle Steamer Medway Queen, launched in 1924, is berthed at Gillingham Pier on Pier Approach Road. A visit starts at the visitor centre and continues with a guided tour on board. It opens on Saturdays from 11am to 4pm until 12 December 2026, with last admission at 3pm, and its 2027 dates are not yet published. Adult admission is £10 as an annual ticket valid for 12 months; accompanied under-16s are free.
Art galleries and arts centres
The Sir Peter Blake Gallery is in the same Dartford building as the library and museum. Dartford Borough Council curates it on behalf of Kent County Council’s libraries service, showing emerging and established artists and exhibitions of local interest. It is free, open on weekdays and Saturdays, and closed on Sundays.
Nucleus Arts Centre at 272 High Street, Chatham, is a community arts centre with gallery space, artist studios and workshops, free to visit. Visit Medway lists Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
Sun Pier House on Medway Street, Chatham, is a not-for-profit arts space beside the River Medway, with an exhibition gallery, artist studios and a cafe. Visit Medway says gallery hours vary with its exhibitions and events, so check Sun Pier House’s website before you go.
Small, volunteer-run collections
Old Brook Pumping Station on Solomons Road, Chatham, is a historic pumping station with its engines on show, run by the Medway Industrial Archaeology Group. It is free and opens on the first Saturday of the month, 11am to 3pm, with group visits by arrangement.
The Medway Aircraft Preservation Society is a volunteer workshop at Rochester Airport on Maidstone Road, restoring historic aircraft. Entry is £2.50 per adult and includes a guided tour; supervised under-18s go free. Visit Medway lists Sunday, Monday and Wednesday mornings and Monday evenings, and the society says it opens three mornings and one evening a week, so confirm before visiting.
Planning your visits
Days matter more than prices here. Check each place’s own page before you go, because days, times and prices change.
- Mondays: the Guildhall Museum and Lullingstone Roman Villa are closed, and the Royal Engineers Museum is closed except on bank holiday Mondays. Dartford Borough Museum, Nucleus Arts Centre and the Sir Peter Blake Gallery are listed as open.
- Sundays: the Guildhall Museum, Dartford Borough Museum and the Sir Peter Blake Gallery are closed.
- Winter: the Dockyard closes for winter on 16 November 2026, the Medway Queen’s last Saturday this year is 12 December, and Old Brook opens on first Saturdays only.
Frequently asked questions
Which museums and galleries are free?
Dartford Borough Museum, the Sir Peter Blake Gallery, Nucleus Arts Centre and Old Brook Pumping Station list free entry, and English Heritage lists free entry at Lullingstone Roman Villa for now. The Guildhall Museum (£5), Eastgate House (£7), the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society (£2.50), the Medway Queen (£10), the Royal Engineers Museum (£17.50) and the Historic Dockyard (£29 online) charge.
Which of these suit children?
The Royal Engineers Museum has a First World War trench display, Dartford Borough Museum has a reconstructed draper’s shop with an overhead cash railway, and the Guildhall Museum covers the prison hulks. Accompanied under-16s are free on the Medway Queen, and supervised under-18s are free at the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society.
How accessible are they for wheelchair users?
The Royal Engineers Museum is step-free through most of it, with lifts to the first floor. Eastgate House has a lift to the first and second floors, though narrow doors mean not all rooms suit wheelchairs. The Guildhall Museum has restricted access in most of the building, and Visit Medway lists the parts wheelchair users can reach. Lullingstone Roman Villa has no lift to the exhibition area. The Medway Queen has a ramp and a stair lift to the lower deck.