It’s now been more than 15 years since The Cuban first opened in Canterbury’s Crown Yard - with many a wild night enjoyed along the way.

While it remains a very popular bar today, over the centuries the buildings at 43 High Street and the yard around it have been put to a variety of different uses. It was home to Canterbury’s first police station, and welcomed guests of Queen Elizabeth I.

Archives reveal there has been a building on the site since at least 1166, according to historian Colin Graham’s book Crown Yard and Canterbury’s First Police Station.

In the 16th century, numbers 44 and 45 High Street were Elizabeth I’s guest chambers, then known as Crown Inn.

When she came to Canterbury in 1573 to celebrate her 40th birthday, her guests were put up in the inn while the monarch stayed in the Cathedral Precincts. Records suggest that Crown Yard took its royal name from the neighbouring Crown Inn.

With the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, local authorities were ordered to pay for and set up their own constabularies.

Number 43 was the city’s first police station, established in 1836 and the headquarters for 18 officers. A council report of the day notes that £154 was spent on 18 truncheons, 18 lanterns, 18 rattles, 18 leather girdles and 18 capes.

From 1881 at the earliest, it became a pub once again, called the Old Crown and served by both Rigden's and the Mackeson Brewery over the decades.

The building has also been home to the Kent Messenger Group offices, plus numerous shops and businesses.

In November 2006, it opened as The Cuban, spread over three floors, offering Cuban music, food, cigars and drinks.

In May 2008, it was voted as the “sexiest” place in the city to eat and drink. The same month, former city resident and St Edmund’s pupil Orlando Bloom is said to have enjoyed a night out there.

A source told the Gazette at the time: “He was wearing a baseball cap and some of the other diners were unsure if it was him.

“That was until some of braver girls asked him for his autograph. Once people worked out it was him, he high-tailed it out of there.”