Although it says 1500 on the sign, this date does not give a very accurate description of the building. Originally this is the site of an Old Kentish Hall a few centuries prior to the 16th century, but most of what you can see today dates from near the end of the 16th century (not the beginning).
The transformation of the building coincided with a large influx into the city of Protestants from mainland Europe, fleeing persecution from the catholic authorities who were fearful of losing their grip on power. Most of the refugees were Walloons from the Low Countries and Huguenots from France. They brought much trade to the city through their weaving looms. There were roughly 2000 looms in operation in the city at its peak, producing silks, cotton and wool. At this time the population of the city and its immediate surrounding areas would have been little more than 10,000, so almost half the city would have been involved in the industry in some capacity.
The Weaving industry was highly successful in Canterbury until the 19th Century. A combination of cheaper silks from India and the advancement of the Industrial Revolution with huge factories in the Midlands and North of England, finally put an end to the regions industry. Beyond weaving, another consequence of the huge influx of Huguenots, was that almost one-third of the city was of refugee origin, and also French speaking. This eventually led to the Huguenot community being provided with a separate chapel in the Crypt of the cathedral to give service in French. Not only does this chapel still remain to this day, over four hundred years later there are still services given in French every Sunday.
The Weavers House is a fine restaurant now, but over the last one-hundred years there have been many uses. It has been a bakers, launderette, gift shop, jewellery shop and even at some stage a house of ill-repute. The upstairs is still littered with many small rooms, only 7ft by 4ft in size, but they are used more for storage these days than anything so interesting or sinister.