Canterbury is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States.

First granted by Lieutenant Governor John Wentworth in 1727, the town was named for William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury.

[3] It was originally a militia timber fort and trading post of Capt.

Jeremiah Clough located on a hill near Canterbury Center, where the Pennacook people came to trade.

They made their living by farming, selling seeds, herbs and herbal medicines; and by manufacturing textiles, pails, brooms and other products.

The last resident, Sister Ethel Hudson, died in 1992, and the site is now a museum, founded in 1969, to preserve the heritage of the utopian sect.

[4][12][13] Canterbury has an active historical society hosting events throughout the year and maintaining the Elizabeth Houser Museum in the old Center Schoolhouse (original one-room school house) as well as an archive of Canterbury-related materials dating to the early 18th century.

[14] Among notable works in the archive are the Lunther Cody Collection of Glass Negatives, documenting classic life in New England.