The museum is housed in Chillington Manor, built in 1562 for Philip Barham the local M.P. The shields on the right outside the museum, (with the exception of the wavy line to represent the River Medway) are those of Archbishop Courtenay the succesor to Archbishop Sudbury and who was responsible for many of the medieval buildings in Maidstone.

Possibly the oldest known inhabitant of Maidstone was the Iguanodon — the fossilised remains were found in Queen's Road in 1834. This dinosaur is incorporated in the towns coat-of-arms - the first time in the history of heraldry that a dinosaur has been used. The remains are displayed at the British Museum in London.

In 1855 Thomas Charles bequeathed his collection of antiquarian objects to the town, which then purchased his house and opened a museum to the public in January 1858.

In the late 19th Century an East and West wing was added to Chillington Manor to provide purpose built galleries, housing the collections of Maidstones many Victorian collectors and benefactors

Today the museum and art gallery is regarded as one of the foremost in the South-East, rich in fine, applied and oriental art, ethnography, archaeology natural, local and social history. The Earth Heritage Gallery and Egyptian Mummy are a favourite with the children.

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