Canterbury Shaker Village

The Shakers grew from a small group of English believers led by Ann Lee, who brought the movement to America in 1774. They held that God had both male and female aspects, that men and women were spiritual equals, and that true Christian life meant living communally, holding all property in common, and renouncing marriage and private family in favor of the whole community as family.

Because they did not have children of their own, the Shakers grew by conversion and by taking in orphans and others who came to them, some of whom stayed for life and some who left on reaching adulthood. Their worship included the dancing and trembling that outsiders mockingly called shaking, a name the Shakers eventually embraced.

Canterbury was organized to be self-sufficient. The Shakers farmed the surrounding fields, tended orchards and gardens, raised livestock, and ran mills powered by a series of ponds they engineered on the hilltop. They wove cloth, made brooms and boxes, packaged seeds and herbs, and sold their goods to the outside world, where Shaker quality was trusted.

Daily life was ordered by faith. Work itself was a form of worship, expressed in the Shaker saying that one should put hands to work and hearts to God. Men and women lived and worked separately under that discipline, moving through the dwelling houses on separate stairs and doorways, a separation you can still read in the architecture today.

The Shakers believed that anything worth making was worth making well and without needless ornament, and this conviction produced some of the most admired design in American history. Their ladder-back chairs, oval boxes, built-in cabinetry, and simple tools are prized today for a spare elegance that feels strikingly modern.

They were also inventive. Shaker communities are credited with practical improvements to everyday tools and processes, and the flat broom, the clothespin, and refinements to washing machines and seed packaging are among the innovations associated with them. At Canterbury you can see this ingenuity throughout the workshops and the ponds-and-mills system that powered the village.

As the decades passed, the Shaker population declined, and the last members of the Canterbury community grew elderly in a village that had once bustled with hundreds. Rather than let it be sold and scattered, the community and its supporters arranged for the village to become a nonprofit museum, preserving the buildings, the collections, and the story intact.

Today Canterbury Shaker Village keeps that legacy through tours, craft demonstrations, gardens, and trails across the hilltop. It stands as both a museum of a remarkable American religious experiment and a quiet, beautiful place to walk among buildings shaped entirely by a way of life devoted to simplicity and work.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

Canterbury Shaker Village, in Canterbury near Concord, New Hampshire, is a beautifully preserved historic village that was home to a community of Shakers for some two hundred years, now a museum and National Historic Landmark. Set amid rolling countryside, the village preserves many original Shaker buildings, gardens, and a treasury of Shaker furniture, crafts, and artifacts, telling the story of the Shakers who lived, worked, worshiped, and innovated here. With guided tours, craft demonstrations, gardens, and trails, it offers an immersive and serene window into the Shakers' remarkable way of life and their famous craftsmanship. With its historic Shaker buildings and heritage, Canterbury Shaker Village offers a fascinating destination in New Hampshire.

You can tour the preserved historic Shaker buildings, view collections of the Shakers' renowned furniture, crafts, and inventions, watch craft demonstrations, stroll the gardens and nature trails, and learn about the Shakers' communal life, faith, and ingenuity through guided tours and exhibits. The original Shaker architecture, the fine craftsmanship, the gardens, and the story of this unique religious community are the highlights, offering a serene and educational experience. Approaching this site of a religious community with respect is appreciated. With its Shaker buildings and history, Canterbury Shaker Village offers a meaningful experience in New Hampshire.

The Shakers at Canterbury were members of a religious community known for communal living, celibacy, equality, simplicity, and exceptional craftsmanship, who founded and sustained the Canterbury village for about two hundred years. Devoted to their faith and ideals, they became famous for their elegant, functional furniture and crafts, their inventiveness, and their orderly, self-sufficient way of life. As the Shaker population declined over time, Canterbury became a museum preserving their legacy. Understanding the Shakers and their history enriches a visit to Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire.

The village is most fully open in the warm months of spring through fall, when the buildings, gardens, craft demonstrations, and trails are at their best and the countryside is beautiful, with fall foliage especially lovely, while special events and programs occur through the season. Because hours are seasonal, checking the current schedule before you go is wise. The peaceful village is serene in any mild season. For the fullest experience with gardens, demonstrations, and grounds, aim for spring through fall at Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire.

Canterbury Shaker Village is in Canterbury near Concord, New Hampshire, within reach of Concord with the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Manchester with the Currier Museum of Art and the Amoskeag Millyard, Bear Brook State Park, and the central New Hampshire towns. That makes Canterbury Shaker Village a fascinating stop to combine with the Concord and Manchester attractions and the other sights of central New Hampshire on a visit to the state.