Rochester Cathedral

Rochester Cathedral
Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary
Rochester, Kent
Status:	Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral
	Church of England
	Diocese of Rochester
Location
Grid reference:	TQ74276852
Location:	51°23’20"N, 0°30’12"E
History
	Built 1079–1238
Information
Website:	rochestercathedral.org

The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary at Rochester, commonly known as Rochester Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester and seat of the Bishop of Rochester. It stands in the centre of Rochester in Kent, a city which grew up around the cathedral.

The Diocese of Rochester is the oldest bishopric in the Church of England after that of Canterbury. The cathedral is itself ancient, and today is a Grade I listed building.

History

Anglo-Saxon establishment

The Rochester diocese was founded by Justus, one of the missionaries who accompanied Augustine of Canterbury to convert the pagan southern English to Christianity in the early 7th century. King Æthelberht of Kent granted Justus permission to establish a church on the site of the present cathedral, which was made the seat of a bishopric. The cathedral was to be served by a college of secular priests and was endowed with land near the city called Priestfields.

The apse of the original cathedral is marked in the current cathedral on the floor and sets outside show the line of the walls. Bede describes St Paulinus' burial as "in the sanctuary of the Blessed Apostle Andrew which King Ethelbert founded likewise he built the city of Rochester.

In 644, Ithamar, the first English-born bishop, was consecrated at the cathedral and he in turn consecrated Deusdedit as the first English Archbishop of Canterbury in 655. Within a generation though the fratricidal wars of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms reached even this far and in 676 King Aethelred of Mercia burnt Rochester and left its endowments waste.

After the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conqueror granted the cathedral and its estates to his half-brother, Odo of Bayeux. Bishop 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 squalour 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.

Mediæval priory

Gundulf's church

The Great West Door

Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, amongst others, brought Odo to account in 1072 and the cathedral and its lands were restored to the bishop.

Gundulf was appointed bishop in 1077 and he set to work rebuilding the cathedral, beginning with the tower which today bears his name. His cathedral had a presbytery of six bays with aisles of the same length, the four easternmost bays over an undercroft which forms part of the present crypt. The transepts were 120 feet long, but only 14 feet wide. The nave was not completed at first. The quire was required by the 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 Benedictine monks, 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.

The cathedral was completed during the episcopates of Ernulf (1115–1124) and John I (1125–1137). Ernulf is credited with building the refectory, dormitory and chapter house, only portions of which remain. Finally Bishop John translated the body of Ithamar from the old Saxon cathedral to the new Norman one, which was dedicated in 1130 (or possibly 1133) by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the presence of King 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. Bishop Ernulf's monastic buildings were also damaged.

Mediæval remodelling

View over Rochester Cathedral from the Castle

Bishop Gilbert de Glanvillebegan rebuilding the east end but the cathedral was looted in 1215 by the forces of King John during siege of Rochester Castle. The cathedral was rededicated in 1240 by Bishop Richard Wendene (also known as Richard de Wendover) who had been translated from Bangor. The shrines 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.

The next phase of the development was begun by Richard de Eastgate: 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 de Mepeham 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 again desecrated in 1264 by the troops of Simon de Montfort, during sieges of the city and 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 King Edward I. Later, in 1300, Edward passed through Rochester on his way to Canterbury and is recorded as having given seven shillings 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 Paulinus and Ithamar.

The new century saw the completion of the new Decorated work with the original Norman architecture. The rebuilding of the nave being finally abandoned.

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 to which "angulo" was being referred, 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 four feet thick, enough for an oratory.

The central tower was at last raised by Bishop Hamo de Hythe in 1343, thus essentially completing the cathedral. Bells were placed in the central tower. The chapter room doorway was constructed at around this time. The Black Death struck the land in 1347–49. From then on there were probably considerably more than twenty monks in the priory.

Later Middle Ages

The nave looking east

The nave looking towards the Great West Door

The modern paintwork of the choir walls is modelled on artwork from the Middle Ages. Sir Gilbert Scott found remains of painting behind the wooden stalls during his restoration work in the 1870s. The painting is therefore part original and part authentic. The alternate lions and fleurs-de-lis reflect Edward III's victories, and assumed sovereignty over the French. In 1356 the Black Prince had defeated John II of France at Poitiers and took him prisoner. On 2 July 1360 John passed through Rochester on his way home and made an offering of 60 crowns (£15) at the Church of St Andrew.

The Oratory provided for the citizens of Rochester 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 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 the Church of England’s smaller cathedrals, thus demonstrates all styles of Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

The Tudor and Stuart Ages

Henry VIII visited Rochester on 1 January 1540 when he met Ann of Cleves 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 King 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 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 and Ridley was burnt at the stake for heresy at Oxford 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". 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). King James was accommodated at the bishop's palace and the whole party attended a Sunday service led by Bishop Barlow.

Archbishop Laud 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 cathedral's] 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". The reference to the monuments is particularly relevant, for this was six years before the despoilation of the cathedral by Parliamentarian soldiers in the wake of the Civil War.

In 1641 Sir 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."

Civil War and Restoration

The official record runs: "On Wednesday, being Bartholomew Day, we marched forth, some of our souldiers ... went to the Cathedrall about 9 or 10 of the clock, in the midst of their superstitious worship, with their singing men and boyes; they ... went about the work they came for. First they removed the table to its place apointed, and then tooke the seat which it stood upon, ... and brake that all to pieces; ...they pluckt down the rails and left them for the poore to kindle their fires; and so left the organs to be pluckt down when we came back again, but it appeared before we came back they took them downe themselves." Post-Restoration, the relative lack of damage was noted, in particular the "monuments of the dead" were not defaced, although one John Wyld (a freeman and shoemaker of Rochester) was accused of taking down and selling iron and brass from some tombs. Lord Fairfax's troops stabled their horses in the quire as in other cathedrals. Although no structural damage seems to have occurred, several saw pits were dug in the nave floor.

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". By 1662 £8,000 had been spent and a further £5,000 or 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. 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 choir steps was removed and the crossing vaulted. Between 1742 and 1743 major work was undertaken in the choir, 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 choir 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". A new organ in 1791 completed the 18th-century works.

19th century onwards

From 1825 to 1830 Lewis Nockalls Cottingham served as diocesan architect. The quire and its south transept were reroofed due to dry rot. The wall between the main transept and the south quire aisle was still leaning, and the previous century's work had actually worsened the situation. Cottingham built a new external face which effectively buttresses the original wall. The tower was demolished and rebuilt without a spire. The east end was remodelled by lowering the altar and removing the old altar screen. Various windows and arches were opened up and in one of them the tomb of Bishop John de Sheppey was discovered.

Cottingham remained in charge for the next phase of restoration. From 1840 the pulpit and bishop's throne were rebuilt. The removal of the old pulpit revealed the mediæval Wheel of Life painting to be seen at the eastern end of the choir stalls today. It is said to be the oldest such painting in England. A new ceiling of the crossing, new canopy for John de Sheppey, cleaning whitewash and the renovation of the crypt all occurred at this time.

From 1871 to 1877 the work was entrusted to Sir 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 choir 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 Dean Scott]] the choir 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 flanking towers 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 sets extend define the outline.

Architecture

External

Tympanum

The west front is dominated by the central perpendicular great west window. Above the window the dripstone terminates in a small carved head at each side. The line of the nave roof is delineated by a string course above which rises the crenelated parapet. Below the window is a blind arcade interrupted by the top of the Great West Door. Some of the niches in the arcade are filled with statuary. Below the arcade the door is flanked with Norman recesses. The door itself is of Norman work with concentric patterned arches. The semicircular tympanum depicts Christ sitting in glory in the centre, with Saints Justus and Ethelbert flanking him on either side of the doorway. Supporting the saints are angels and surrounding them are the symbols of the Four Evangelists. On the lintel below are the Twelve Apostles and on the shafts supporting it King Soloman and the Queen of Sheba. Within the Great West Door there is a glass porch which allows the doors themselves to be kept open throughout the day.

Either side of the nave end 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 by Black Boy Alley, a mediæval pilgrimage route. The decoration is Early English, but reworked by Sir 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 choir 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 Room 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.

Cloisters and ancillary buildings

The cloister was at the heart of the monastery and its outlines can be followed in the cloister garth. The eastern part was formed by Bishop Ernulf's Chapter House and dormitory of which now only the western wall survives. The south of the cloister was the refectory, the work of Prior Helias (also known as Élie) in about 1215. The lower part of the wall remains and is of massive construction. There was a problem to be solved, the older cloister was bounded by the Roman city wall. Helias simply drove through it the a doorway and used the wall as the north wall of the refectory.

Gundulf Tower

Immediately to the north of the cathedral proper and nestling in between the quire transept, pilgrim steps and sextry gate is the 11th-century Gundulf Tower. This is oldest part of the cathedral still above ground. Until the 18th century it rose as high as the adjacent parts of the church, some 65 feet. During the 19th century it severely decayed, until by 1897 it was recorded that "only ruins now remain". The lower part of the tower was roofed and the fabric made good in 1925. Most of the cost (£1400) was met by the freemasons. The plaque illustrated to the left is affixed to a wall therein. The three floors are now occupied by the cathedral music department (first floor and top floor) and the vergers (ground floor).

Nave

A Green Man roof boss

The western part of the nave is substantially as Gundulf designed it. According to George H. Palmer (who substantially follows St John Hope) "Rochester and Peterborough possess probably the best examples of the Norman nave in the country". The main arcade is topped by a string course below a triforium. The triforium is Norman with a further string course above. The clerestory above is of perpendicular style. From the capitals pilasters rise to the first string course but appear to have been removed from the triforium stage. Originally they might have supported the roof timbers, or even been the springing of a vault.

The easternmost bay of the triforium appears to be Norman, but is the work of 14th-century masons. 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 choir 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 Men 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.

Transepts

The north transept is from 1235 in Early English style. The Victorian insertion of windows has been mentioned above in the external description. Dominating the transept is the baptistery fresco. The fresco by Russian artist Sergei Fyodorov is displayed on the eastern wall. It is located within an arched recess. The recess may have been a former site of the altar of St Nicholas from the time of its construction in 1235 until it was moved to the screen before the pulpitum in 1322. A will suggests that "an altar of Jesu" also stood here at some point, an altar of some sort must have existed as evidenced by the piscina to the right of the recess. The vaulting is unusual in being octpartite, a development of the more common sexpartite. The Pilgrim Door is now the main visitor entrance and is level for disabled access.

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 Dr 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 choir 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 Annunciation and
  The Nativity
• 
  St Elizabeth and
  The Adoration of the Magi
• 
  St Mary Magdelene and The Presentation at the Temple
• 
  St Margaret of Scotland and The Crucifixion
• 
  King Arthur and
  The Ascension

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 fallen of Rochester from the Great war.

• 
  WW I memorial tablet
• 
  WW II memorial tablet

Crypt

The Crypt

The oldest part of the crypt is the two westernmost bays under the eastern end of the quire. It is part of the original 1080s Lanfranc construction with typical Romanesque groin vaulting springing from plain capitals atop quite slender plain shafts. The rest of the crypt is from a century later. The plinths, shafts and capitals are in the same style as the earlier work, but quadripartite rib vaulting was used. Owing to the oblong shape of the bays, the shorter transverse arches are pointed; however, since the other ribs are rounded, the overall appearance is Romanesque. In places remnants of the mediæval paintwork are visible in the vaulting. More mediæval paintwork is visible in the east end window openings.

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 Club (for young people) during Sunday 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.

Music

Organ

Pipe organ above the screen

Rochester Cathedral's current pipe organ originates from the 1905 instrument built by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd. It was later rebuilt by Mander Organs in 1989, who installed a new choir organ and pipework under the advice of Paul Hale.

Choirs

The cathedral choir traces its roots back to the church's foundation in AD 604. The quality of the chorister training was praised by the Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation.

The main choir consists of the boy choristers, girl choristers and the lay clerks. The provision of boy choristers was why King's School was founded in 604, at the same time as the cathedral itself. It still supplies boys from its preparatory school to sing the treble line. From 1995 a girls' choir was introduced to sing some of the services for which the boys were not available. Girls are drawn from any of the local schools. The lay clerks are professional singers who provide the lower three voices: alto, tenor and bass. For great services, all three parts of the choir may combine.

The present voluntary choir was formed in August 2008. The voluntary choir sings for around 10 weekends per year, usually during holiday periods when the child choristers are unavailable. They also sing in place of the main choir at the Eucharist as required.

Bells

Number 3 bell with memorial inscription

Rochester Cathedral has a ring]] of 10 bells hung for change ringing, all cast in 1921.

In 1343 Bishop 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 further recasting took place over the years. In 1904 two further bells were added at the time that the tower and spire were rebuilt. 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.

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 Captain James W. Todd USN, 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.

Library

The Anglo-Saxon establishment no doubt contained an early library, but no details of it have survived, nor of the monastic library which presumably followed.

The library today includes or has included some famous books:

• The Textus Roffensis of 1130, now in the care of the local council
• The Custumale Roffense from around 1300 with information about the priory's income and domestic arrangements. Instructions are given for the ringing of bells, confirming their use at this date.
• A copy of De Consensu Evangelistarum ("On the Harmony of the Evangelists") by St Augustine of Hippo copied in the first half of the 12th century and in its mediæval binding
• Peter Lombard's Book of Sentences (Questiones Theologicae) from the late 13th century.
• A series of mediæval charters.
• A Complutensian Polygot Bible (Greek, Latin and Hebrew) printed in Spain in 1514–17
• A Sarum Missal of 1534, from Paris.
• 'A '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."

Te Textus Roffensis of 1130 contains a catalogue of the library as it then was, listnig amongst much else 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 Old English. 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 Museum.

When King John besieged the 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. Leland was able to save some manuscripts and 99 from Rochester are now in the Royal Collection in the British Museum. 37 other works have been traced to places across the British Isles, Europe and even the United States.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Rochester Cathedral)

• Rochester Cathedral
• Rochester Cathedral Old Choristers' Association
• Website of the Rochester Cathedral Company of Bell Ringers
• A history of the King's School and of the choristers of Rochester Cathedral
• Flickr images tagged Rochester Cathedral
• The Corps of Royal Engineers
• Royal Engineers Museum and Library
• Diocese of Rochester

References

• Barlow, Frank (1979), The English Church 1000–1066 (2nd ed.), Longman, ISBN 0-582-49049-9 
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