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Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and Cathedra ( cathedra) of the Bishop of Rochester, the second oldest bishopric in England after that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The present cathedral, rebuilt on the site of its predecessor in the Norman style, is a Listed building.
Under the Roman system, a bishop was required to establish a school for the training of priests. To provide the upper parts for music in the services a choir school was required.. Loyn misprints Canterbury for Rochester: Canterbury goes back to the previous decade. Together these formed the genesis of the cathedral school which today is represented by the King's School, Rochester. The quality of chorister training was praised by Bede.Music Department website
The original cathedral was high and wide. The apse is marked in the current cathedral on the floor and the setts outside show the line of the walls. Credit for the construction of the building goes to King Æthelberht rather than St Justus. Bede describes St Paulinus' burial as "in the sanctuary of the Blessed Apostle Andrew which Æthelberht founded likewise he built the city of Rochester."
Æthelberht died in 617 and his successor, Eadbald of Kent, was not a Christian. Justus fled to Francia and remained there for a year before he was recalled by the king., but Palmer anachronistically refers to Francia as Gaul.
In 644 Ithamar, the first English-born bishop, was consecrated at the cathedral. Ithamar consecrated Deusdedit as the first Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury on 26 March 655.
The cathedral suffered much from the ravaging of Kent by King Æthelred of Mercia in 676. So great was the damage that Putta retired from the diocese and his appointed successor, Cwichelm, gave up the Episcopal see "because of its poverty". www.yale.edu
In 762, the local overlord, Sigerd, granted land to the bishop, as did his successor Egbert. The charter is notable as it is confirmed by Offa of Mercia as overlord of the local kingdom.
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conqueror granted the cathedral and its estates to his sibling, Odo of Bayeux. Odo misappropriated the resources and reduced the cathedral to near-destitution. The building itself was ancient and decayed. During the episcopate of Siward (1058–1075) it was served by four or five canons "living in squalor and poverty". One of the canons became vicar of Chatham and raised sufficient money to make a gift to the cathedral for the soul and burial of his wife, Godgifu.
Gundulf's first undertaking in the construction of the new cathedral seems to have been the construction of the tower which today bears his name. In about 1080 he began construction of a new cathedral to replace Justus' church. He was a talented architect who probably played a major part in the design or the works he commissioned. The original cathedral had a Chancel of six bays with aisles of the same length. The four easternmost bays stood over an undercroft which forms part of the present crypt. To the east was a small projection, probably for the silver shrine of Paulinus which was translated there from the old cathedral. The transepts were 120 feet long, but only 14 feet wide. With such narrow transepts it is thought that the eastern arches of the nave abutted the quire arch. To the south another tower (of which nothing visible remains) was built. There was no crossing tower. The nave was not completed at first. Apparently designed to be nine bays long, most of the south side but only five bays to the north were completed by Gundulf. The quire was required by the medieval priory and the south wall formed part of its buildings. It has been speculated that Gundulf simply left the citizens to complete the parochial part of the building. Gundulf did not stop with the fabric, he also replaced the secular chaplains with , obtained several royal grants of land and proved a great benefactor to his cathedral city.
In 1078 Gudulf founded St Bartholomew's Hospital just outside the city of Rochester. The Priory of St Andrew contributed daily and weekly provisions to the hospital which also received the offerings from the two altars of St James and of St Giles.
During the episcopates of Ernulf (1115–1124) and John (I) (1125–1137) the cathedral was completed. The quire was rearranged, the nave partly rebuilt, Gundulf's nave piers were cased and the west end built. Ernulf is also credited with building the refectory, dormitory and chapter house, only portions of which remain. Finally John translated the body of Ithamar from the old Saxon cathedral to the new Norman one, the whole being dedicated in 1130 (or possibly 1133) by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by 13 bishops in the presence of Henry I, but the occasion was marred by a great fire which nearly destroyed the whole city and damaged the new cathedral. It was badly damaged by fires again in 1137 and 1179. One or other of these fires was sufficiently severe to badly damage or destroy the eastern arm and the transepts. Ernulf's monastic buildings were also damaged.
The sepulchre of Ss Paulinus and William of Perth, along with the relics of St Ithamar, drew pilgrims to the cathedral. Their offerings were so great that both the work mentioned above and the ensuing work could be funded.
Unlike the abbeys of the period (which were led by an abbot) the monastic cathedrals were priories ruled over by a prior with further support from the bishop. Rochester and Carlisle (the other impoverished see) were unusual in securing the promotion of a number of monks to be bishop. Seven bishops of Rochester were originally regular monks between 1215 and the Dissolution. A consequence of the monastic attachment was a lack of patronage at the bishop's disposal. By the early 16th century only 4% of the bishop's patronage came from non-parochial sources. quoted by The bishop was therefore chronically limited in funds to spend on the non-monastic part of the cathedral.
The next phase of the development was begun by Richard de Eastgate, the sacristan. The two eastern bays of the nave were cleared and the four large piers to support the tower were built. The north nave transept was then constructed. The work was nearly completed by Thomas Meopham who became sacrist in 1255. Not long after the south transept was completed and the two bays of the nave nearest the crossing rebuilt to their current form. The intention seems to have been to rebuild the whole nave, but probably lack of funds saved the late Norman work.
The cathedral was desecrated in 1264 by the troops of Simon de Montfort, during sieges of the city and Rochester Castle. It is recorded that armed knights rode into the church and dragged away some refugees. Gold and silver were stolen and documents destroyed. Some of the monastic buildings were turned into stables. Just over a year later De Montfort fell at the Battle of Evesham to the forces of Edward I. Later, in 1300, Edward passed through Rochester on his way to Canterbury and is recorded as having given seven shillings (35p) at the shrine of St William, and the same again the following day. During his return he again visited the cathedral and gave a further seven shillings at each of the shrines of Ss Paulinus and Ithamar.
The new century saw the completion of the new Decorated period work with the original Norman architecture, the rebuilding of the nave being finally abandoned. Around 1320 the south transept was altered to accommodate the altar of the Virgin Mary.
There appears to have been a rood screen thrown between the two western piers of the crossing. A rood loft may have surmounted it. Against this screen was placed the altar of St Nicholas, the parochial altar of the city. The citizens demanded the right of entrance by day or night to what was after all their altar. There were also crowds of strangers passing through the city. The friction broke out as a riot in 1327 after which the strong stone screens and doors which wall off the eastern end of the church from the nave were built. The priory itself was walled off from the town at this period. An oratory was established in angulo navis ("in the corner of the nave") for the reserved sacrament; it is not clear which corner was being referred to, but Dr Palmer argues that the buttress against the north-west tower pier is the most likely setting. He notes the arch filled in with rubble on the aisle side; and on nave side there is a scar line with lower quality stonework below. The buttress is about thick, enough for an oratory. Palmer notes that provision for reservation of consecrated hosts was often made to the north of the altar which would be the case here.
The central tower was at last raised by Hamo de Hythe in 1343, thus essentially completing the cathedral. Bells were placed in the central tower (see Bells section below). The chapter room doorway was constructed at around this time. The Black Death struck England in 1347–49. From then on there were probably considerably more than twenty monks in the priory.
The Oratory provided for the Rochester citizens did not settle the differences between the monks and the city. The eventual solution was the construction of St Nicholas' Church by the north side of the cathedral. A doorway was knocked through the western end of the north aisle (since walled up) to allow processions to pass along the north aisle of the cathedral before leaving by the west door.
In the mid-15th century the clerestory and vaulting of the north quire aisle was completed and new Perpendicular Period windows inserted into the nave aisles. Possible preparatory work for this is indicated in 1410–11 by the Bridge Wardens of Rochester Bridge who recorded a gift of lead from the Lord Prior. The lead was sold on for 41 shillings. In 1470 the great west window at the cathedral was completed and finally, in around 1490, what is now the Lady Chapel was built. Rochester Cathedral, although one of England's smaller cathedrals, thus demonstrates all styles of Romanesque and Gothic architecture.Rochester, The past 2000 years
In 1504 John Fisher was appointed Bishop of Rochester. Although Rochester was by then an impoverished see, Fisher elected to remain as bishop for the remainder of his life. He had been tutor to the young Prince Henry and on the prince's accession as Henry VIII, Fisher remained his staunch supporter and mentor. He figured in the anti-Lutheran policies of Henry right up until the divorce issue and split from Rome in the early 1530s. Fisher remained true to Rome and for his defence of the Pope was elevated as a cardinal in May 1535. Henry was angered by these moves and, on 22 June 1535, Cardinal Fisher was beheaded on Tower Green in the Tower of London.
Henry VIII visited Rochester on 1 January 1540 when he met Anne of Cleves, who was to become his fourth wife, for the first time and was "greatly disappointed". Whether connected or not, the old Priory of St Andrew was dissolved by royal command later in the year, one of the last monasteries to be dissolved.
Nicholas Ridley was consecrated Bishop of Rochester in 1547 during the reign of Edward VI. During his time at Rochester he directed that the altars in the churches of his diocese should be removed and tables put in their place to celebrate the Lord's Supper. In 1548 he helped Thomas Cranmer compile the Book of Common Prayer and in 1549 he was one of the commissioners who investigated bishops Stephen Gardiner and Edmund Bonner and agreed that they should be removed from office. In 1550 he was translated to the London; three years later Ridley was involved in the plot to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne in preference to the Roman Catholic Queen Mary. The plot failed and Ridley paid the price; he was burnt at the stake for treason on 16 October 1555.
The cathedral suffered a steep decline after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, during which time its estates were confiscated by the Crown, and it became dilapidated and fell into disrepute. Samuel Pepys, the diarist, would later dismiss it as a "shabby place". www.kentpast.co.uk Rochester's location beside Watling Street did, however, mean that there continued to be a string of notable visitors. Most famously, Queen Elizabeth I stayed in Rochester for four days in 1573, attending divine service in the cathedral on 19 September. In 1606 James I & VI and his brother-in-law, Christian IV of Denmark, visited the city, accompanied by his family (Queen Anne and Prince Henry). James was accommodated at the bishop's palace and the whole party attended a Church service led by William Barlow.
William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, visited the cathedral in 1633 and complained about its general state, in particular that it "suffered much for want of glass in the windows". By the following year the defects had been mainly remedied (apart from some of the glass), the excuse being that the backlog had built up due to money (£1,000) being spent on "making of the organs". Laud accepted this and required completion, noting among other items that the bells and their frame needed to be put into good order (see below, in 1635 one bell was recast).
In 1635 the cathedral was described as: "small and plaine, yet it is very lightsome and pleasant: her the quire is neatly adorn'd with many small pillars of marble; her organs though small yet are they rich and neat; her quiristers though but few, yet orderly and decent." The author then describes the various monuments "divers others also of antiquity, so dismembred, defac'd and abused".Lansdowne MS. no 213 (British Library) quoted in . The reference to the monuments is particularly relevant, for this was six years before the despoliation of the cathedral by Parliamentarian soldiers in the wake of the English Civil War.
In 1641 John Evelyn paid his first visit to the cathedral as recorded in his diary: "The 19th we rod to Rochester, and having seene the Cathedrall."Evelyn entry for 19 July 1641
Shortly after the Restoration, Samuel Pepys visited Rochester Cathedral on his way between the London and Chatham Dockyard. The cathedral had fallen into disrepair during the Commonwealth and Pepys observed it was "now fitting for use, and the organ then a-tuning".Pepys, entry for 10 April 1661 By 1662 £8,000 had been spent and a further £5,000 for repairs were outstanding. The joint diocesan registrar to the bishops from 1629 until 1671 was Peter Stowell. Under the Commonwealth his loyalty had cost him both fines and his liberty. He spent his own money recovering various books and fittings as well as spending £100 on flooring the church from the west door to the pulpitum. The Dean of Rochester led prayers in memory of French Vice-Admiral Jean-Claude de La Robinière who was killed in enemy action by the Spanish-Dutch navy in 1667.Evelyn, entry for 2 June 1672 www.british-history.ac.uk In 1770 Archdeacon John Warner oversaw the removal of seats from the chancels with communion tables set up and railed "as formerly", a notably early readoption of the railed altar.
The cathedral fabric required continuous care: in 1664 the south aisle was recased and in 1670 40' of the north aisle had to be rebuilt. In 1679 the spire was in a dangerous state and an architect, Samuel Guy, reported on it. He reported that £1,000 of work was needed, however a few months later a Westminster carpenter, Henry Fry, took a different view: some lead work and the repair of one beam was sufficient. £160 was spent on the organ. In 1705 work started to relead the roof, completed by 1724. In 1730 the old ringers' loft above the quire steps was removed and the crossing vaulted. Between 1742 and 1743 major work was undertaken in the quire, sufficiently disruptive that the dean and chapter used nearby St Nicholas' Church. In 1749 the steeple had to be rebuilt and between 1765 and 1772 the west front towers were rebuilt.
The cathedral's south quire aisle and transept were giving cause for concern, so in 1751 they were buttressed, the roof lightened and supporting brickwork placed in the crypt. In 1798 Edward Hasted wrote a description of the cathedral and its environs, published as part of his The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. He observed that "time has so far impaired the strength of the materials with which it is built, that in all likelihood the care and attention of the present chapter towards the support of it will not be sufficient to prevent the fall of a great part of it at no great distance of time".Hasted A new organ in 1791 completed the 18th-century works.
From 1871 to 1877 the work was entrusted to George Gilbert Scott. The first phase of the work was to repair the clerestory of the nave, the nave could then be used for service whilst the quire and transepts were worked upon. The south transept was underpinned and the timber vaulting renovated. The north transept had new western windows and a new door. Both had the masonry renovated. The gables and roofs were restored to their old high pitch form based on prints. The organ screen was restored to its original plain form, perhaps a mistake since there was now no screen on the other side of the pulpitum as there had been in the days of St Nicholas' altar. The east end gables were raised, but due to lack of funds the roof has still not been raised to match. The east window ("ugly" according to Palmer) was replaced with the present lancets. The floor of the presbytery was lowered and the whole eastern part of the building refloored. The choir and prebends stalls were renovated, using original material where possible. The work uncovered the original lion and fleur-de-lis heraldic artwork on which Scott based his decoration of the quire.
In memory of Robert Scott (sometime Dean) the quire screen was decorated with the current statues by J. Loughborough Pearson. Pearson also superintended the 1888 restoration of the west front, parts of the facing of which were separating from the core. The were restored to the original height and form and the north gable turret rendered as a copy of its partner to the south. During this work the ancient foundations of the original church were uncovered and marked out as noted above.
In 1904 the present spire was raised upon the Scott Tower, creating the skyline as it is today. During 1998 the precinct beyond the Great West Door was being repaved when further Saxon foundations were uncovered. The coloured setts extend define the outline.Moss p.9
For the 1400th anniversary of the cathedral, in 2004, a new fresco was painted by Russians icon-painter Sergei Fyodorov in the north transept.
Either side of the west front rises a tower which forms the junction of the front and the nave walls. The towers are decorated with blind arcading and are carried up a further two stories above the roof and surmounted with pyramidal spires. The aisle ends are Norman. Each has a large round headed arch containing a window and in the northern recess is a small door. Above each arch is plain wall surmounted by a blind arcade, string course at the roof line and plain parapet. The flanking towers are Norman in the lower part with the style being maintained in the later work. Above the plain bases there are four stories of blind arcading topped with an octagonal spire.
The outside of the nave and its aisles is undistinguished, apart from the walled up north-west door which allowed access from the cathedral to the adjacent St Nicholas' Church. The north transept is reached from the High Street via Black Boy Alley, a medieval pilgrimage route. The decoration is Early English, but reworked by Gilbert Scott. Scott rebuilt the gable ends to the original high pitch from the lower one adopted at the start of the 19th century. The gable itself is set back from the main wall behind a parapet with walkway. He also restored the pilgrim entrance and opened up the blind arcade in the northern end of the west wall.
To the east of the north transept is the Sextry Gate. It dates from Edward III's reign and has wooden domestic premises above. The area beyond was originally enclosed, but is now open to the High Street through the memorial garden and gates. Beyond the Sextry Gate is the entrance to Gundulf's Tower, used as a private back door to the cathedral.
The north quire transept and east end are all executed in Early English style, the lower windows light the crypt which is earlier. Adjoining the east end of the cathedral is the east end of the chapter house which is in the same style. The exact form of the east end is more modern than it appears, being largely due to the work of Scott in the 19th century. Scott raised the gable ends to the original high pitch, but for lack of funds the roofs have not been raised; writing in 1897 Palmer noted: "they still require roofs of corresponding pitch, a need both great and conspicuous".
On the south side of the cathedral the nave reaches the main transept and beyond a modern porch. The aisle between the transepts is itself a buttress to the older wall behind and supported by a flying buttress. The unusual position of this wall is best explained when considering the interior, below. The southern wall of the presbytery is hidden by the chapter room, an 18th-century structure.
The easternmost bay of the triforium appears to be Norman, but is the work of 14th-century Stone mason. The final bay of the nave is Decorated in style and leads to the tower piers. Of note is the north pier which possibly contains the Oratory Chapel mentioned above.
The aisles are plain with flat pilasters. The eastern two bays are Decorated with springing for vaulting. Whether the vault was ever constructed is unknown, the present wooden roof extends the full length of the aisles.
The crossing is bounded to the east by the quire screen with the organ above. This is of 19th-century work and shows figures associated with the early cathedral. Above the crossing is the central tower, housing the bells and above that the spire. The ceiling of the crossing is notable for the four Green Man carved on the bosses. Visible from the ground is the outline of the trapdoor through which bells can be raised and lowered when required. The floor is stepped up to the pulpitum and gives access to the quire through the organ screen.
The south transept is of early Decorated style. The eastern wall of it is a single wide arch at the arcade level. There are two doorways in the arch, neither of which is used, the northern one being hidden by the memorial to William Franklin. The south wall starts plain but part way up is a notable monument to Richard Watts, a "coloured bust, with long gray beard". According to Palmer there used to be a brass plaque to Charles Dickens below this but only the outline exists, the plaque having been moved to the east wall of the quire transept. The west wall is filled by the large arch mentioned above with the screen below dividing it from the present Lady Chapel.
The Lady Chapel as it now exists is of Decorated style with three lights along southern wall and two in the west wall. The style is a light and airy counterpart to the stolid Norman work of the nave. The altar has been placed against the southern wall resulting in a chapel where the congregation wraps around the altar. The window stained glass is modern and tells the gospel story.
The first, easternmost, window has the Annunciation in the upper light: Gabriel speaking to Mary (both crowned) with the Holy Spirit as a dove descending. The lower light shows the Nativity with the Holy Family, three angels and shepherds. The next window shows St Elizabeth in the upper light surrounded by stars and the sun in splendour device. The lower light shows the Adoration of the Magi with Mary enthroned with the Infant. The final window of the south wall has St Mary Magdelene with her ointment surrounded by and fleurs-de-lis in the upper light with the lower light showing the Presentation in the Temple. The west wall continues with St. Margaret of Scotland in the upper light surrounded by fouled anchor and thistle roundels. The reference is to the original dedication of the cathedral as the Priory of St Andrew. The lower light shows the Crucifixion with Virgin Mary and St Peter. The final window is unusual, the upper light is divided in three and shows King Arthur with the royal arms flanked by St George on the left and St Michael on the right. The lower light shows the Ascension: two disciples to the left, three women with unguents to the right and three bare crosses top right.
The first four windows have various dedications in the lower border, but the fifth has the cathedral, Kent and Rochester arms interspaced with the dedication: "To the Glory of God and in proud and abiding memory of the following Old Roffensians | who laid down their lives for their country in the Great War 1914–1918". Below is a stone memorial with their names inscribed. Under the fourth window is a slightly later tablet recording those of 1939–45.
The north aisle is a simple passageway interrupted by a flight of steps and the cross wall. The steps form part of the pilgrimage route to St William's shrine (hence their designation as "The Pilgrim Steps") and are so worn by medieval feet that before 1897 they had to have wooden treads added.
The south aisle was originally the same width as the northern one. The 14th-century cross wall is still visible filling the arch to the east, now forming the entrance to the vestry over the crypt entrance. Gundulf's small tower occupied what is now the south western portion of the aisle. To keep the cloisters uniform, a wall was established from the tower to what is now the cathedral library. When the tower was demolished its base along with the enclosed area was incorporated into the south aisle. The new "Kent Steps" lead up from the widened aisle into the quire transept, whilst the old entrance now gives access to the crypt below.
Archaeological investigations in 2014 revealed an earlier Norman structure underneath the "Kent Steps". The foundations of the existing (14th-century) wall have been discovered to be Norman. A doorway from the crypt led to a flight of stairs running upwards with a window looking out into the cloisters. This work dates from the first phase of the present cathedral. The detailed report is expected to be published in late 2016.
Before the Victorian renovations the quire had steeply stepped stalls and a pulpit. Removal of these revealed the medieval Rota Fortunae ("Wheel of Life") painting and the original patterning of the walls. The existing wall pattern is modern, being a copy of that found, but the painting's main Rota Fortunae is untouched. Above the painted walls the triforium is blind arched with the clerestory and sextipartite vaulting above. Some of the earlier timbers have been reused in the stalls, but most of the work is 19th-century.
Before Scott's work the quire stalls continued in their high-backed form and cut off the quire transepts. They are now open and form a single space to accommodate a larger congregation when required. The south transept has two openings which no longer lead anywhere; one originally led to the crypt (before the south aisle was widened), the other led up to the Indulgence Chamber.
The north transept was the site of St. William's shrine and the center of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. Of St William's shrine little now remains. Edward Hasted refers to a "large stone chest, much defaced", Palmer notes that the tomb in the easternmost bay of the transept is "reputed to be that of St. William". The shrine was originally in the centre of the floor. The whole transept used to be known as St William's Chapel, the railed off area to the east being later called St John the Baptist's Chapel and more lately the Warner Chapel on account of the monuments therein. Tucked into a corner of the Warner Chapel is a cross of nails. In the centre of the north wall is the resting place of Walter de Merton, former bishop and founder of Merton College. Two wooden doors are visible, one of which leads nowhere, access now being from the other side of the wall; the other leads to the cathedral treasury. This latter is reputed to be one of the oldest doors still in use in England.Cathedral History
The north quire transept and presbytery form a stylistic whole. The east end however has been substantially remodelled by Scott. The arcading contains the tombs of various past bishops, that between the Warner Chapel and the presbytery is unusually well preserved. It is the tomb of de Sheppey which was walled up at some point and forgotten about. As a result, it escaped the depredations of the English Commonwealth. The tomb was rediscovered, uncovered and restored by Cottingham from 1825 to 1840.
Above these two are four great Doctors of the Church: Ss Augustine, Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose. They are depicted seated at reading desks and lecterns. Above, on each side, are a pair of angels bearing scrolls and ascending from flames. The uppermost figure in the arch is a small nude figure. This is symbolic of a purified soul arising from Purgatory upwards towards a canopy, possibly the gates of Heaven. It may be Hamo de Hythe who commissioned the doorway.Tourist interpretation panel adjacent to the doorway Above the canopy the ogee outer arch rises to a final pinnacle bearing a pedestal. Today there is no figure upon this pedestal. The outer arch is decorated with deeply undercut foliage. The spandrels and the areas under the figures are filled with diaper work, themselves noteworthy.
The eastern part of the crypt under the presbytery has been converted into a chapel dedicated to St Ithamar. Except when used for the sunday school (for young people) during Eucharist, it is reserved as a place of quiet and stillness for private prayer and reflection.
Access to the crypt is down a flight of stairs from the south quire aisle. The stairs occupy the width of the original aisle prior to the demolition of Gundulf's small tower ( see above). A wheelchair lift installed in 2017 provides disabled access.
As part of the addition of disabled access and the change of use of the crypt, the whole of the crypt floor has been removed and the area under it investigated by archaeologists. A Roman house and the foundations of the original east end have been uncovered. () reports are not yet available, the published plans have been affected by archaeological discoveries.HTFE
Although it is probable that the original Saxon cathedral of 604 had one or more bells, early records are scant. The 11th-century Gundulf Tower has architectural features which indicate bells were placed there from the start. In 1154 Prior Reginald made two bells and recast a third, existing, cracked one. Two further bells were obtained during the 12th century as mentioned in the Custumale Roffense of c. 1300. In 1343, Hamo de Hythe arranged for the central tower to be heightened and hung four bells called "Dunstanus, Paulinus, Itmarus atque Lanfrancus" (Dunstan, Paulinus, Itamar and Lanfranc).
In 1635 the third was recast and in 1683 the fifth and tenor, followed by the treble in 1695. The fourth was noted as cracked in 1711 and a quotation obtained from Richard Phelps. The contract went the following year to James Bagley who also quarter turned the second: "the striking sides being much worn". The 1695 treble was recast in 1770 and the 1683 tenor recast in 1834. In 1904 two further bells were added at the time that the tower and spire were rebuilt. Of the original six bells four were recast and two retained. In 1921 all the bells were recast and augmented to the current ring of 10. When bells are recast the original metal is reused with new metal added as required, therefore there is every reason to assume that the current bells contain the metal from all the original bells back to the time of Gundulf. In 1960 the bells were rehung on a new steel frame by John Taylor.
The service of dedication for the new bells was held on 16 May 1921. After prayers, the bells were rung for one minute, before the service resumed. Following the Church service touches of Grandsire caters and Stedman caters were rung. 15 members of the cathedral band and 31 visitors all took turns ringing. Because the bells are a memorial ring, including men who had died in the Great War, they were rung half-muffled on this first occasion.Chatham News 1921
For many years the reason why the number 3 bell bears the inscription "U.S.S. Pittsburgh in Memory of 1920" was a mystery. However a letter from James W. Todd, officer commanding USS Pittsburgh was published in the Chatham News on 17 December 1920. In it he thanks the Dean of Rochester for various events during the two and a half months that the USS Pittsburgh was in dry-dock at Chatham. He encloses a cheque for £52 10s to pay for the recasting of the bell and discusses the inscription.Chatham News, 17 December 1920 p.7
The author Charles Dickens had wished to be buried in the churchyard at Rochester Cathedral. Instead, his body was interred at Poets' Corner inside Westminster Abbey.
In the Textus Roffensis of 1130 a catalogue of the library is included within it. There was the famous Gundulf Bible (now in the Huntington Library, California); the Textus itself; scriptural commentaries; treatises by various Church Fathers; historical works (including Bede's Ecclesiastical History) and assorted books on monastic life. Most books were in Latin, with just a few in Anglo-Saxon. One hundred and sixteen books are named, with a further 11 added later. These were volumes; some would contain multiple works within them. A further catalogue compiled in 1202 records 280 volumes. This latter catalogue was only rediscovered in the 19th century. It had been written on two leaves at the beginning of a copy of St Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana belonging to Rochester. The copy is now in the British Library.. Correct in 1953, but it will be in the British Library now.
The mediaeval library was located in different parts of the cathedral and precincts at different times. The precentor was in charge of it and also responsible for providing the materials needed to enable copyists, illuminators and authors' work. Because all copying was by hand and taught locally, monasteries varied in their calligraphy. There is an identifiable "Rochester Script" of the 12th century.
When King John besieged the Rochester Castle (1215) some manuscripts were lost, and more were too in 1264 when Simon de Montfort occupied the City of Rochester.
The dissolution of the monasteries was catastrophic for the cathedral library. John Leland, Royal Librarian and antiquary, complained to Thomas Cromwell that young German scholars were appearing and cutting documents out of books in the cathedral libraries. and other sources, see Leland for example. Leland was able to save some and 99 from Rochester are now in the Royal Collection in the British Museum. 37 other works have been traced in England, Scotland, Europe and even the United States.
Following the Dissolution, the Old Vestry to the east of the south quire transept was adopted as the Chapter Room and library. Notwithstanding its change in designation, it is still used from time to time as a vestry by the clergy. The only contents to survive the Dissolution were ancient manuscripts, the 50 volumes predating 1540 appear to have been later acquisitions.. The figure 50 is taken from the 1953 text and may not be accurate today. The library remained smaller than in mediaeval times, there were less clergy than monks. The chapter members were required to be "learned and erudite" and possess a academic degree, so it is postulated that they would have their own personal books. From the 18th century onwards the library grew, in part due to donations which became traditional upon deans and canons' appointments. Some legacies were received, notably Richard Poley of Rochester whose grave can be seen at the foot of the Quire Steps. In 1907-9 the east wall of the library was reconstructed, the floor replaced and new bookcases provided by the donation of T. H. Foord, a benefactor of both the city and cathedral.
There is a Complutensian Polyglot Bible (Greek, Latin and Hebrew) printed in Spain in 1514–17. A Sarum Rite of 1534 came from Paris. Rochester has a copy of Coverdale's Bible from 1535, a Great Bible of 1539, a Bishop's Bible of 1568 and numerous other later copies. The Bishop's Bible is notable for the note at Psalm xlv.9: "Ophir is thought to be the Ilande in the west coast, of late found by Christopher Colombo, from whence at this day is brought most fine gold."
Because of his military engineering talent, Gundulf is regarded as the "father of the Royal Engineers". The corps claims a line of King's Engineers pre-dating the engineers of the Board of Ordnance in 1414 and the formal founding of the Corps in 1716 all the way back to Gundulf. This shared heritage and the close proximity to the cathedral of the Royal School of Military Engineering in Brompton means the Corps of Royal Engineers and Rochester Cathedral maintain strong links to this day.
There are over 25 memorials to individual officers and soldiers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, including that of John Chard, the officer in charge of defending Rorke's Drift against the Zulu onslaught, and a number of representing members of the corps that have given their lives in the discharge of their duty, including many stained glass windows presented by the corps. One such plaque, from 1881, commemorates Major Samuel Anderson, responsible for surveying a large portion of the 49th parallel Canada–United States border in the 1860s and 1870s.
A memorial tablet was erected in 1902 to the memory of three officers, graduates of the Royal Military College of Canada, who died while serving in Africa: Huntly Brodie Mackay, Captain Royal Engineers; William Henry Robinson, Captain Royal Engineers; and William Grant Stairs, Captain the Welsh Regiment.
The latest memorial to the Corps of Royal Engineers was dedicated during the service of remembrance on the Corps Memorial Weekend, 19 September 2010, led by Adrian Newman (then Dean of Rochester; later Bishop of Stepney), in the presence of the Chief Royal Engineer, Peter Wall, and the families of the ten Royal Engineers killed in Afghanistan since September 2009, recipients of military decorations including the Elizabeth Cross.
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