Canterbury Shaker Village

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

What do the historic objects made and used by the Canterbury Shakers tell us about this religious communal society? What may we learn from the materials they chose, forms they created, and goods they purchased?

Join our Curator of Research and Collections for a quick-paced and interactive program featuring 10 artifacts representing 200 years of Shaker life.

We'll be stepping lively and thinking quickly! Who knows what historic artifacts you will meet!

Program takes place in Hubbard Building Gallery.

This program is part of We Want More History!, a national day of history programming connecting communities through place and storytelling.

Learn more at https://www.wewantmorehistory.org/.

🪑Artifact Speed Dating
🗓️Sat. Sept. 26
📍 Hubbard Gallery, Canterbury Shaker Village
🎫 Register at Shakers.org/Events.com

08/31/2026

Our Bee House is open!

We had such a busy bee day at the Village and thank you everyone for coming on through! The outpouring of enthusiasm and support and excitement exceeded our expectations and it was an incredibly sweet experience at Canterbury Shaker Village.

We opened up our new exhibition on agriculture, people connected with our tours and talks on the buildings and gardens, vendors were wonderful with their products and craftsmanship, oxen demonstrations were a lively experience, and we enjoyed hearing from so many people that they hadn't been to the Village in a while and they were so happy to feel the radiance of the place for this event.

We'll post more photos and thank you's throughout this week! Thank you to everyone, hope to see you at the Village again soon, we'll have a number of ways you can ReDiscover the Village this Fall!

08/29/2026

Historic Barn Preservation continues its incredible preservation of our 1810 East House. Replacing both an inner and outer sill has proven to be a rewarding job, with a lot of hidden intricacies and brute geometry that makes it very interesting to problem solve and execute.

💛West and South-side Side Sill Replacement & Alignment
💛Watch our Reel (Sill Replacement Pt. 3) for a more in-depth recap of their work.

We're so thankful to our funding from LCHIP, Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and a transformational gift from philanthropist Tami Nason to allow for this project to commence this summer.

Come on out and ReDiscover Canterbury Shaker Village and see up-close the real-time preservation of the East House and appreciate the great work and intention HBP has put into this project.

08/28/2026

🪟 Replacing Window Caps with Preservation Timber Framing

For the preservation of our Meeting House (1792), it requires PTF to replace and update portions of the building that have been worn down and rotted over the building's 200+ year life.

Recently, the crew has been replacing window caps, fine detailed barriers on the tops of windows that are meant to prevent rain and weather from dripping directly into window frames and seams.

As Adam Bramhall of PTF shows, this mighty window cap from the Meeting House has been whittled down to almost nothing. He honors it's valiant duty by removing it from "service", as he begins to build and cut a new one to serve in its place.

The amount of weather-specific carpentry and detail the Shakers intentionally built into the Meeting House is quite impressive, and speaks to the structural integrity this place of worship has.

Come ReDiscover Canterbury Shaker and see this project in action and the magnificent job Preservation Timber Framing has done!

08/28/2026

The Preservation Timber Framing has been sky high on the Meeting House!

After finishing up with their sill and clapboard work, the crew erected scaffolding (Day 88) and have spent much of the past couple weeks working on different aspects of the roofing or windows at height.

Maintaining the integrity of the roof is very important and part of that process included removing all of the shingles and copper flashing (day 96) that had been installed so as to start with a "clean slate" for repairs

Then PTF got into the details of removing damaged and rotten areas around windows and seams (Day 89), including for instance, creating new window caps (Day 108, and see Reel). This high flying work also included contracting out updates to the chimney and its mortar (Day 102).

Back on the ground, other fine detail work included replacing the threshold and coating it in linseed oil (Day 100). It's dizzying to think how many people have stepped into the Meeting House via the original threshold built by Shakers, and encouraging to think of how many more will through the one installed by PTF.

The Meeting House is a pretty sight to see in its metamorphosis and we welcome anyone and everyone to see this work in action and hopefully appreciate the intentionality and skill of Preservation Timber Framing to ensure the bones and legacy of the 1792 Meeting House moves further into the 21st century.

08/27/2026

Demonstrator Highlight: Letterpress Printing!

Letterpress is a traditional print method that was used extensively here at the Village. During the late 1800's, part of the printing duties at the Village consisted of publishing the monthly newspaper that circulated amongst all Shaker communities.

Today you can watch our printers Jim MacNab and Charles Tabor print stationary and designs on a hand-fed, 19th-century printing plates in the basement of the historic Carpenter's Shop (1806).

You can also sign up for workshops with Charles Tabor / Floodwaters Press where he'll walk you through setting type face, choosing your stationary, incorporating graphic prints, and you'll walk out with our own, one-of-a-kind, finished set of cards for friends and family.

🐝He'll also be available with printing activities for our Bee House Grand Reopening on Saturday Aug. 29th at 12-4pm! 🐝

Sign up for workshops at Shakers.org/Events