Distant Day Out - Rochester (Part 1)

Sometimes, you get the urge to go somewhere outside of London, because why not - sure, you have a degree to study for, but the rare change in scenery is always welcome. So I headed out to Rochester, half aware it's a historic town before I got there.

Note: I get the feeling most AO2a readers will be well aware Rochester used to be a city, but lost this title in 1998 over a bureaucratic cockup - it's the only city to stop officially being a city in the UK. But also worth noting that literally no one cares about this apart from the council, many will still consider Rochester a city. Just getting that out the way.

Located along the River Medway, Rochester has historically been a key port town. This has been the case ever since the Roman invasion of Britain, when the Romans fortified a settlement in the area and built a bridge over the Medway. Ever since then, the Saxons, Normans, and various other people, have all left a mark on Rochester, making it probably one of the most fascinating places you can visit for £20 by train from London. And I got a five hour trip in before sunset!

(Additional note, that trip wasn't all spent in Rochester. There will be a follow-up post featuring a very lengthy walk.) 

Rochester Cathedral

Probably the best place to start is by the magnificent cathedral, found right in the town centre. It's stood here since 604 AD, and is the second oldest cathedral in England, behind Canterbury. It's not half bad, either, what with the lovely stained-glass windows, the beautiful crypt (which now houses a café), and the sperm whale exhibition that's sure to grab your attention as soon as you get inside.

Inside of the cathedral, with sperm whales from the exhibition

Okay, admittedly the exhibition ended on the 7th March, but it was nice to look around when it was on. Designed by Tessa Campbell Fraser, she's run similar exhibitions before at Winchester Cathedral, using recycled fishing nets and large whale models to comment on ocean pollution and the damage it's had on the whales' habitats. You could even walk up to a stall and feel the fishing nets, and I know it's kind of pointless writing about all this now that the exhibition's over, but it really was quite wonderful.

The rest of the cathedral itself is delightfully grand, with intricate carvings of saints in the walls, and the odd splash of medieval painting. This over here is the Wheel of Fortune, at least what's left of it, which you can find by the choir. It was created in the 1200s, and only half of it exists to this day - the other half was destroyed during the Reformation, and this section was only preserved because it was hidden behind furniture.

     

The crypt, meanwhile, is wonderful - just a flight of stairs away, it houses a museum with some vital historical texts, as well as a café, which shouldn't come as a surprise - cathedrals need to make some money somehow. It was cool to see the Textus Roffensis - a collection of Anglo-Saxon law codes, written in Rochester in the 1120s - right here, although I only learnt all that when I visited. What's even more interesting is how the text ended up here in the first place - this is the only copy still in existence, and to get to that point, it's had to endure being lost in a river for almost a decade in the early 18th century. Unfortunately, the one in the photo isn't the original, it's a replica on display whilst it's being "rested".

There are other interesting texts hidden behind glass boxes, too. You'll find Peter Lombard's Sentences, a foundational piece of Christian theology written in the 12th century, is here, whilst Custumale Roffense, a survey of rents and customs owed to the Rochester, can be seen, too. And you can walk around and admire these texts in a delightfully low-lit hall, with stone walls that just scream medieval England. And if you want more books, there's a cathedral library above ground - albeit it was closed when I visited. Yet the doorway that leads to it is worth admiring regardless.

 

Outside the cathedral, you can find the lovely Cloister Garth, which have been occupied since the 7th century. This is where the Priory of St Andrew was located before it was dissolved in 1540, and you can still see remnants of the old priory. You can eye the old doorway leading to where the monks used to eat; otherwise, it's nice to just walk around, maybe look at the Mary and Child statue in the middle of the centre, before you go back into the cathedral for a little bit longer.

Cloister Garth with cathedral in the background. The Mary and Child statue is in the corner.

It's kind of rare for me to spend as long as I have discussing one specific building, but Rochester Cathedral deserves it. It's a tremendous cathedral in so many different ways, and it made going to Rochester worth it, even without considering the other sights. 

 

Rochester Castle

The other very well-known attraction in Rochester is only a few metres away from the cathedral. This is Rochester Castle, which has an admission fee - luckily for me, there was a student discount, so I got away with spending £6.50 on a ticket. I'm glad I did because even if the whole trip around the castle is at best around 20 minutes, it's still cool to come and look around.

  

Rochester Castle was built by the Normans following their conquest in 1066, built not far from the banks of the Medway. The castle was constructed to protect the nearby river crossing over the Medway. Initially built from timber and earthworks, it was rebuilt by the then Bishop of Rochester, Gundulf, in 1088 in stone; the famous keep was added in the 1130s by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been granted the castle by King Henry I.

Rochester Castle on the green

The castle itself is quite a marvel - as you walk down narrow stone corridors, hopping between different rooms from the cesspit to the chapel, it's hard to not admire the keep above you. Standing at 34 metres tall, it's also one of the best preserved Norman keeps, although parts of it were rebuilt following various conflicts, most notably in 1215, when it was besieged by King John. During John's siege, which also included a sacking of the cathedral, he attempted to take the castle back from rebels who held it during the First Barons' War. He was successful in the end, though it did involve destroying one of the keep's towers, which had to be rebuilt under his successor, Henry III.

The castle didn't see much military action after 1381, during the Peasants' Revolt. In fact, the castle's hsitory is less thrilling afterwards, even being neglected by Henry VII in the 16th century. In 1884, Rochester bought the castle, which takes us up to today, where you can visit the castle and maybe look around the gift shop for a while afterwards.

 

One thing I loved about the castle is walking up to the top, which is basically a Norman-styled viewing deck nowadays. Look down, and you'll see pigeon remains stuck in nets, which isn't particularly wonderful - look out, though, and you effectively get an observation deck included in your ticket. It's lovely to look over the city, its skyline dominated by the cathedral of course, but it's a nice experience either way. 

    

If you don't get a ticket, you can still look around the castle's gardens, along the baileys. Here, you can even find a cannon used in the Crimean War, which was presented as a gift to Rochester in 1859. Otherwise, you can look down at the Medway and the current iteration of Rochester Bridge from here - there are four bridges here; two for the A2 road, one for trains, another for pipes and cables, built in either 1856, 1858, or 1970. Quite a far cry from the original wooden bridge the Romans built back in AD 43.

Crimean war cannon

The four Rochester bridges

You might also be intrigued by the old castle's walls, dating back to Gundulf's original design. Some of the wall still stands, east and west of the castle, but the remainder has since been removed over time. In fact, there was an original Roman wall built around Rochester in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but most of it was gone in the 15th century. You can still see the old Southgate not far from the castle, though it's hidden behind a blue door.

The Southgate

 

The castle walls

Epilogue

I have more to say about Rochester, I spent quite a bit of time there after all! Whilst I was aware of how historic Rochester is - hell, all the signs heading into the town call it "Historic Rochester" - I'm still quite impressed by how wonderful it was. But more on that in a few days :)