William Wildash (publisher) The history and antiquities of Rochester Rochester 1833 <1> THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF ROCHESTER, AND THE VICINITY. ROCHESTER: PRINTED BY W. WILDASH, HIGH-STREET, MDCCCXXXIII. <2> <blank> <3> CONTENTS. PAGE Ancient Walls and Streets1 Civil History9 Government, Privileges, and present state of Rochester 13 The Town-Hall 15 Charities 19 The Castle 24 The Cathedral 42 The Priory; its Dissolution; and the establishment of the Dean and Chapter *60 St. Nicholas Church 77 Bully Hill 87 The Bridge 93 The Bridge Chamber 103 The Grammar School 106 St. Margaret’s Church 109 Strood Church 118 <4> <blank> <5> THE History of Rochester. &c. &c. ROCHESTER is situated on an angle of land form= ed by the current of the river Medway, which coming from the south, runs northward until it has passed by the city, and then turning, proceeds nearly to the east. This city is undoubtedly very ancient. The Romans called it Durobrovis and Durobrovum, and by the Saxons it was denominated Hroffe, and Hrooffe ceaster, from which by contraction it obtained its pre= sent name of Rochester. Bede says it took its name from one Roffe, who first built here, and that it was formerly considered rather as a castle than a city, and accordingly he styles it "the Kentishmens’ Castle." Rochester has never been very extensive, and ap= pears to be larger now than it was formerly. From ancient records there seems no question, but this city was walled before the conquest. Its natural situation on an angle of land, by a large river, and in the direct road from East Kent to London, made it a pass of some importance, and induced the kings and generals of ancient times, to improve it as a security against the invasion of their enemies. Great part of the walls of this city still remain, and there can be no doubt of its being walled in the time of Ethelbert I. king of Kent, about the year 600; for 6 in a grant of certain lands, made by him to support the church which he had built at Rochester, there is mention made both of a wall and gate. There is reason to think that great part of the pre= sent wall of the city is on its original foundation, and that this place was first fortified by the Romans. Several Roman bricks were to be seen in different parts of the wall, particularly one row containing about seven bricks, which was lately very conspicuous towards the west end of the north wall. The walls are built nearly according to the four car= dinal points, and from east to west are about half a mile distant, but from north to south not a quarter of a mile, so that the city was originally in a small com= pass; which will account for its being called, in some grants, the castle, as appears from ancient records. A part of the wall forming the north east angle is still entire, retaining its ancient form, height and em= brasures. The wall in general is about four feet in thickness, and on the east side, where it is entire, the height is about thirty feet. The interior of the small tower situated in the same angle, does not appear to have suffered much from the ravages of time; the en= trance to it is from Mr. Henslow’s garden, through an arched door-way, to the right of which is a stone flight of steps, but little decayed, leading to the top: it has a fire place, and several loop holes; no doubt exists of there having been a similar tower to this at each angle of the wall. On the south the dimensions of the wall nearly correspond with the order of king Edward I. who in the year 1290 gave liberty to the prior and monks of the Convent of Rochester "To pull down part of the south wall, and to fill up the ditch without the wall, on condition that they built a new stone wall five rods and five feet from the former, sixteen feet high and well embattled, to stand on their own ground, and to be repaired by them." This new work is said to have extended from the east gate to= wards Canterbury to the gate of the Prior towards the 7 south, and to have been in length fifty-four perches fourteen feet. It is not easy to determine precisely concerning this new wall; it seems most probable that the whole south wall was carried five rods five feet to the southward, to give the prior and convent more room for gardens, vineyards, &c. and that it partly inclosed what is now called the Vines Field, near the bottom of which, and not many yards from the elm-trees, are marks of the foundation of the east wall. The present south wall within this field seems to be the original wall which the monks had liberty to remove; and the wall without the said field appears to be that which they then built; it is indeed about twice the distance from the old wall which was prescribed by the grant, but the monks might encroach a little on this occasion, or measure from the outward edge of the broad ditch without the wall. They might also think it less trou= ble to build a wall with new materials, than to demo= lish the old one for that purpose; they might therefore permit the old wall to continue as a double security to their property, which being thicker than the new wall still remains, whilst this last is almost entirely demo= lished. Its length in all probability extended from the east gate round the south-east angle of the said field called the Vines, and so on to the south-west angle in the road to St. Margaret’s, near which in the old wall probably stood the Prior’s Gate. The city has no gates at present, but the names of several are on record, viz. Broadgate, afterwards East= gate, which stood in the high-street near the free school, is mentioned in the Textus Roff. Part of the portal on the south side of the street was standing in the memory of several persons now living. Leland in his itinerary vol. 6, p. 10, calls it "a marvellous strong gate," and adds, "no more gates appeared here that were commonly used." Southgate was near Boley-hill, in the road to St. Margaret’s; the gate was about nine feet wide, the arch of which was taken down 8 in the year 1770, when the hooks on which the gates hung were remaining in the wall. There was another gate as appears by the Regist. Roff. p. 565, called Cheldegate, this seems to have been in the north wall of the city leading to the marshes by the side of the river; for it is certain that Cheldegate Lane was on the north side of the great street, and opposite to the gate now called College Gate; as appears also from Regist. Roff. page 565; where it is asserted, that "a gutter, which ran down the College yard into the street, fell afterwards into a little street vulgarly called Bounds Lane or Chel= degate Lane." This street or lane is now called Pump Lane, and it is supposed took the name of Chel= degate Lane from the above mentioned Gate, to which it directly led; this supposition is further confirmed by the north wall of the city being called Cheldegate Wall in Reg. Roff. which appellation doubtless was derived from the gate leading through it. There were no streets of any account within the walls of the city, except the High Street and Chelde= gate Lane before mentioned; Doddingherne or Doding= herne Lane, or, as it implies in english, Deadman’s Lane (a name which it probably obtained from its being a boundary to the cemetery), seems to have led from the principal street to Boley Hill. St. Clement’s street was near St. Clement’s church, now called Horse Wash Lane. What is at present called St. Margaret’s Street, was without the walls, and in the reign of Ed= ward II. A. D. 1317, termed South Gate Street, proba= bly from its leading from the south gate. The whole street of St. Margaret’s is included in that division of the city, which in the court-roll is still called South Gate Borough. There was formerly a spring or well in East Gate, called after the name of St. Augustine, who erected the sees of Canterbury and Rochester; and was probably near where the obelisk pump now stands. 9 CIVIL HISTORY. Having briefly noticed the antiquities, extent, walls, and gates of this ancient city, we now proceed to its civil history; and although there is no doubt of the existence of this city when the Romans possessed the island (it being a Roman Station), yet we do not find it memorable for any particular event in that period: for after Julius Cæsar, in his second expedition, had defeated the united forces of the Britons near Canter= bury, he met with little or no opposition in this county, the Britons retreating to the more interior parts of the island. Though Rochester was undoubtedly a place of some eminence in the time of the Romans, yet it is remarka= ble that no particular mention should be made of it in the historical account which is given of a famous battle that was fought, near fifteen years after their departure, between the Britons and Saxons, about two miles south of the city.