Copyright Kent Past 2010
Kent Past
The History of Kent
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History of Rochester
Rochester comes from the British word ‘duro’ meaning a ‘gate, town with gateways,
walled town’ with and Old English word ‘ceaster’ as a ‘city, an old fortification,
roman site’ combined with an unknown place-
Rochester has seen much over the years: Aethelberht walled it in 600AD, and founded
a missionary church, which became the nucleus of the cathedral. Ethelred plundered
it in 676. The Danes attacked it in 839 and 885 and driven off, in the latter year,
by Alfred the Great. Etheldred besieged it in 986. The Danes sacked it in 998. William
the Conqueror built a new castle on the site of the Saxon and Roman fort and gave
it to Bishop Odo. William Rufus besieged and took the castle in 1088. Henry I attended
the dedication of the new or re-
Being the second oldest cathedral foundation in England, Rochester Cathedral’s
history goes back to 604AD when Augustine sent Bishop Justus to establish the house,
founded by King Ethelbert of Kent. At the time of the consecration of Bishop Gundolf,
in 1077, the church was in a state of devastation following several invasions by
the Danes. Immediately he began a major building campaign, and the establishment
of a community of Benedictine monks in 1080.
The church suffered misfortune again
in the mid-
In 1154, three bells were hung by Prior Reginald in the Gundulf Tower. Richard of
Waldedene added a further bell in 1251. In 1343, Bishop Hamo de Hythe built up the
central tower and hung four bells in it. By 1545, there were six bells in the central
tower, whilst the bells in the Gundulf tower, had disappeared. They rebuilt the upper
part of the tower and spire in 1749. In 1823, L N Cottingham demolished the old tower
down to the ringing chamber level and replaced it with a taller pinnacle construction,
subsequently replaced with a new bell chamber and spire in 1904. Mears and Stainbank
augmented the ring to eight, with the dedication taking place on 30 November, of
that same year, by Dr Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, and former Bishop
of Rochester. In 1921, Gillett and Johnston retuned all the bells and rehung them
plus two additional bells, making ten.
Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of
the River Medway, to protect both the river and the crossing. It is one of the best-
Despite the East Kent Railway’s (EKR) extended line from Chatham to Strood passing
through Rochester, no station materialised. However, when EKR, -
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