Rochester Cathedral is a Norman church in Rochester, Kent. For other buildings in Normandy see Architecture of Normandy. Rochester is a town in Kent, England. It is located within the Unitary authority area of Medway and is at the lowest bridging point of the The bishopric is second oldest in England: only Canterbury is older. See also List of bishops of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Canterbury ( ˈkæntəbɹ̩i is a City in eastern Kent in the South East region of England. It was founded by Justus, one of the missionaries who accompanied Saint Augustine to convert the pagan English to Christianity in the early 7th century. Saint Justus (d 10 November between 627 to 631 was the fourth Archbishop of Canterbury. A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. Augustine of Canterbury OSB (born c first third of the 6th century - died 26 May 604 was a Benedictine Monk who became the first Archbishop Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings The 7th century is the period from 601 to 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. As the first bishop of Rochester, Justus was given permission by King Ethelbert of Kent to establish a church of St Andrew the Apostle (the same dedication as the monastery in Rome from which St Augustine and St Justus had set out for England) on the site of the present cathedral, which was made the home of a bishopric. Æthelberht (also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert, or Ethelbert) (c The cathedral was to be served by a college of secular priests and was endowed with land near the city called Priestfield. Secularity ( adjective form secular) is the state of being separate from Religion.
The cathedral and city suffered much from the Mercians (676) and the Danes, but retained its importance, so much so that, when William of Normandy conquered England in 1066, he gave the church and its estates to his brother, Odo of Bayeux. Mercia (ˈmɝsiə was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Events By Place Europe Æthelred invades Kent. Asia In Japan Emperor Temmu A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas William I of England ( 1027 His reign which brought Norman culture to England had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages Odo of Bayeux (c 1036 &ndash February 1097 Palermo) Norman Bishop and English earl was the half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was for The church was reduced to near-destitution, a situation only remedied in 1082 when Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury visited and restored some of its lands and staff. Lanfranc (c 1005 – 1089 was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by extraction The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Gundulf, the Norman Bishop of Rochester, also played a very active role; a talented architect himself, the bishop commissioned and probably had a major part in designing a new cathedral to replace Justus' church. Gundulf (or Gundulph) was a Norman monk who came to England following the Conquest He also replaced the secular chaplains by Benedictine monks, translated the relics of St Paulinus to a silver shrine that became a place of pilgrimage, obtained several royal grants of land, and proved a great benefactor to his cathedral city. Benedictine refers to the Spirituality and Consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in By the time of his death he had built the nave and Western front, the Western transept being added between 1179 and 1200 and the Eastern transept during the reign of Henry III. In Romanesque and Gothic Christian Abbey, Cathedral Basilica and church Architecture, the nave is the Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram. Henry III (1 October 1207 &ndash 16 November 1272 was the son and successor of John "Lackland" as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 The cathedral is small, being only 306 feet long, but its nave is the oldest in England and it has a fine Norman crypt. In terms of European architecture a crypt (from the Latin crypta and the Greek κρυπτη, kryptē) is a stone chamber or
The present building is widely regarded as one of the finest Norman cathedrals in the country, with a particularly fine doorway at its western (main) entrance. The tympanum depicts Christ sitting in glory in the centre, with Justus and Ethelbert flanking him on either side of the doorway. A tympanum (plural tympana is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance bounded by a Lintel and Arch. Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed "
After Gundulf's death, the cathedral had a somewhat chequered history. In 1130 the cathedral was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by thirteen 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. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Henry I (c 1068/1069 – 1 December 1135) was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror, the first King of England after the Norman It was badly damaged by fires again in 1137 and 1179. It was then looted in 1215 by the forces of King John and again in 1264 by Simon de Montfort, during sieges of the city and its castle. John (24 December 1167 &ndash 19 October 1216 reigned as a King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death Rochester Castle ( stands on the east bank of the River Medway, in Rochester Kent.
However, besides the shrine of St Paulinus, the cathedral contained the relics of St Ithamar, the first Saxon to be consecrated bishop, and of St William of Perth, a murdered Scottish pilgrim. Veneration In 1256 the Bishop of Rochester, Lawrence de San Martino (Lawrence of St Martin r In 1201 the offerings at St William's tomb were so great, that by their means the choir was rebuilt and the central tower was added (1343), thus completing the cathedral.
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 disreputable. The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the formal process between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded Samuel Pepys, the diarist, dismissed it as a "shabby place". Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703 was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for It underwent several restorations in the 19th century the principal works were carried out by Lewis Nockalls Cottingham from 1824 to 1830 followed by Sir George Gilbert Scott who took on the task in 1872, renovating the cathedral and restoring it to a reasonable facsimile of its original 11th century condition. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Lewis Nockalls Cottingham ( 1787 - 13 October 1847) was a British architect who pioneered the study of Medieval Gothic architecture Sir George Gilbert Scott ( 13 July 1811 &ndash 27 March, 1878) was an English Architect of the Victorian Age Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year
Rev. GM (Grevile Marais) Livett, the longtime precentor of Rochester Cathedral and later vicar of Wateringbury, authored several books and monographs on the Norman churches of England, as well as contributing extensively to the Archaeologica Cantiana (The Journal of the Kent Archaeology Society). [1][2][3]
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Archdeacons of Rochester
Rochester Cathedral's Archdeacons have included:
- Rev. Dr. Thomas Plume, B. The Reverend Doctor Thomas Plume, BA DD (1630 – 20 November 1704) was an English churchman and philanthropist A. , D. D. , founder of the Plume Library, Maldon, Essex, and the Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. Maldon (ˈmɔːldən locally /ˈmɒldən/ is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. The Plumian chair of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy is one of the two major Professorships in Astronomy at Cambridge University, alongside the The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the
- Rev. Dr. Walker King, M. A. , D. D. , father of the Rt. Rev. Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln. Edward King ( 1829 - 8 March, 1910) was an English bishop King was the second son of the Reverend Walker King Archdeacon of See also List of bishops of Lincoln and precursor offices The Bishop of Lincoln heads the ( Anglican)
Organists
- Robert Ashfield
- Percy Whitlock
- Barry Ferguson
- Roger Sayer
See also
- List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom
- Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England
- English Gothic architecture
- Romanesque architecture
- Church of England
References
External links
- Official website of Rochester Cathedral
- A history of the King's School and of the choristers of Rochester Cathedral
- Flickr images tagged Rochester Cathedral
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