It was again visited, seven years later, by fire, from which it had
hardly recovered when a third conflagration occurred and left traces of
devastation for ages. In 1141, Robert Earl of Gloucester was placed in
the Castle. He was the chief general and counsellor of Matilda, and had
been captured prisoner at Winchester after having effected the Queen's
escape. He was eventually exchanged for King Stephen. In 1215 the barons
seized and held the Castle against King John, who gained it. Henry III.
repaired the Castle.
The Castle was again, in 1254, successfully defended for the King by
Edward Earl Warren, against Simon de Montford and the barons. In the
reign of Richard II. the insurrectionists under Wat Tyler released one
of their comrades imprisoned in the Castle.
Rochester has been at different times visited by reigning princes. Henry
VIII., with Emperor Charles V., came there in 1521, whilst in 1573 Queen
Elizabeth honoured it with her presence. Charles II., on his
restoration, passed through the city _en route_ from the Continent to
London. In fact Rochester, being also a port, was a convenient place for
James II. to embark secretly on board of a trading-vessel lying in the
Medway, by which he was conveyed to France.
This Norman castle, which has played such an important part in the
history of the city, deserves some notice. Its extensive remains,
situated on a commanding site, overlook the right bank of the river. The
Castle is supposed to have been built by Gundulph, when Bishop of
Rochester, in the latter part of the eleventh century. It preceded by a
few years the building of the Cathedral by the same prelate. The
architecture of this castle is a striking example of the simplicity of
plans generally employed by the Normans. By preference the castle was a
rectangular keep in form. The sides varied from twenty-five to a hundred
feet in length, and equally so in height. At the corners the walls
advanced so as to form square towers, the faces of which were usually
relieved by flat pilaster-like buttresses. The walls at the base measure
sometimes as much as thirty feet in thickness, and diminish to as much
as ten feet at the summit.
The internal arrangements consisted of a store-room, from which a narrow
staircase, made into the thickness of the walls, gave access to the
rooms of the garrison and those of the owners above, wood being employed
for the floor and roof. A well was always dug. The entire building was
surrounded by a deep moat filled, if possible, with water. The entrance
was small, and was defended by a draw-bridge and portcullis. It was on
the thickness of their walls and the moat that the Normans chiefly
relied for their impregnability. They seldom departed from this simple
form of architecture. Their defence was rarely constructed on a series
of fortifications. Local advantages and a lofty site were invariably the
Norman idea of a safe stronghold.
Great interest is attached to the Cathedral of Rochester. Its see is the
smallest in the kingdom and the most ancient after Canterbury. The two
were established, as we have seen, within a few years of each other,
under the auspices of St. Augustine and King Ethelbert of Kent.
The present cathedral dates from the commencement of the twelfth
century, when it was built by Gundulph. If what we are told about this
structure be correct, its importance cannot be too greatly enhanced, for
it is claimed that its architecture, though much altered and repaired
since, is in the main a copy of Canterbury Cathedral at that time. Thus,
in describing the plan of the one in Rochester, a general idea can be
gained about the other at Canterbury.
Gundulph's contribution is a spacious and venerable building in the form
of a cross, with a central tower surmounted by a spire. The Norman style
forms the basis of the architecture, to which the Later English style
was added chiefly in the many windows of the nave and other parts of the
church. The west front was entirely restored between 1888 and 1889, the
Norman style being strictly adhered to. The doorway is a most decorative
bit of Norman workmanship. Let into the clustered columns on either side
there is, on the right, an effigy of Queen Maud, and on the left another
of Henry I. The door is covered with a rich mass of geometrical design
in metal.
The crypt, invariably a great feature in a cathedral, is partly the work
of Gundulph; that is, the western portion is. The eastern part consists
of cylindrical and octagonal shafts with a light vaulting springing
from them, and belongs to the same period as the superstructure of the
thirteenth century.
There are several chapels, a finely groined roof, and ancient tombs,
which all lend interest to this fine cathedral.
The red-veined marble statue of Walter de Merton cannot fail to attract
attention. He was the founder of the great scholastic college at Oxford
called Merton College. Though small in size, the _entree_ to it demands
high classical attainments.
With regard to commerce, Rochester has a favourable position on the
river Medway, in the creeks and branches of which are the oyster
fisheries. The Corporation, assisted by a jury of free dredgers, hold a
Court of Admiralty, in which they make regulations for the opening,
stocking, and closing of the oyster beds.
In conclusion, we cannot help saying that Kent should be a proud county,
possessing, as it does, the two most ancient sees in the kingdom, the
dioceses of which are separated only by the Medway.