ROCHESTER, a city and municipal borough of Kent, Eng land, on the river Medway, 33 m. E.S.E. of London by the S.R. Pop. (1931) 31,196. Its situation on the Roman way from the Kentish ports to London, as well as at a Medway crossing, gave Rochester (Durobrivae, Hrofescester or Hrobicester, Roffa) an early importance. It was a walled Romano-British town, and the original bridge across the Medway probably dated from that period. The church of St. Andrew was founded by King Aethel bert, who also made Rochester a bishop's see. Rochester was a royal borough in the time of William I., who raised a castle here, probably on Boley hill. Richard I. granted the citizens quittance of passagium from crusaders in the town of Rochester. In 1227 Henry III. granted them the city at a fee farm rent of £25; he also granted them a gild merchant, the right to be impleaded only within the city walls, and other liberties. These charters were confirmed by subsequent sovereigns down to Henry VI., who in 1446 incorporated the city by the title of the bailiff and citizens, and granted them the power of admiralty and many privileges. Edward IV. by his charter of 1461 altered the in corporation to the mayor and citizens. Charters were granted in successive reigns down to Charles I., whose charter of 1629 remained the governing charter until 1835.
Chatham lies east of the city on the same bank of the river, while Strood is opposite. The cathedral church of St. Andrew was originally founded by Augustine in 604, for whom Aethelbert built the church. It was partially destroyed by the Danes, but was rebuilt by Bishop Gundulph, the second Norman bishop (1077-1108). Gundulph at the same time (1089) established an order of Benedictine monks here. Bishop Ernulf (1115-24) completed and also renovated the church, lengthening it by two bays eastward ; the old chapter-house remains. The Norman west front was built about 1125-30, and in 113o the new cathedral was consecrated. The work included an extended choir by Wil liam de Hoo (1227), enlargement of the main transepts, the building of piers for a central tower, and treatment of the nave to the third bay. About 1352 a low central tower was built, to which a spire was added in the next century. Towards the end of
the 15th century St. Mary's chapel was added.
The ruins of Gundulph's Tower stand detached from and are earlier than the church; it was built by Bishop Gundulph prob ably as a defensive work for the eastern boundary of the city. The crypt beneath the choir is Early Norman in the western part. The remainder is Early English, and there are traces of mural painting. The library attached to the modern chapter-house con tains, among various relics, the Textus Roffensis, being records of the cathedral compiled in the time of Bishop Ernulf.
On the eminence overlooking the right bank of the river and commanding a wide view of the surrounding country are the remains of the Norman castle, part of which was built by Bishop Gundulph at the order of William Rufus in the 11th century. The castle was besieged by King John, by Simon de Montfort in the reign of Henry III., and by the followers of Wat Tyler. It was repaired by Edward IV., but soon afterwards fell into decay, although the massive keep still stands. This is the work of Wil liam de Corbeil, archbishop of Canterbury, to whom the castle was granted in 1126. It is a quadrangular four-storeyed structure, flanked by turrets, with a height of 120 feet. Remains of the 13th-century walls which once surrounded the city also exist. Gad's Hill, above Strood, to the north-west, was the residence of Charles Dickens.
At Borstal, south-west of Rochester, was a large convict prison where early experiments on the educational treatment of de linquent boys between the ages of 16 and 21 were carried out, which resulted in the Borstal System (q.v.).
Among the principal buildings in the city are the town hall (1687), the Richard Watt's almshouses (1579), and the almshouse of St. Catherine, which originated in 1316 as a leper's hospital. An Elizabethan mansion was acquired by the corporation for a mu seum as a memorial of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. The principal schools are the cathedral grammar school or King's school, founded in 1544, and the Williamson mathematical school (1704), formerly for sons of freemen but now open to all.