Rochester Cathedral

Rochester Cathedral stands in the heart of Rochester, a small city in Kent. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Rochester and home to the Bishop of Rochester, the second oldest bishopric in England after Canterbury. The present building was rebuilt in the Norman style on the site of an earlier church and is now a Grade I listed structure. The cathedral’s origins go back to the early 7th century when Justus, one of Augustine of Canterbury’s missionaries, founded a church here. King Æthelberht of Kent gave the land and the first building was dedicated to Andrew the Apostle. The cathedral was served by a college of secular priests and included a school for training clergy, which later became the King’s School. The cathedral has survived fires, sieges and periods of neglect. In the 11th century Bishop Gundulf rebuilt much of the structure and added a tower that still bears his name. Gundulf also replaced the clergy with Benedictine monks and founded a hospital outside the city. Later bishops completed the nave and quire, though fires in 1130, 1137 and 1179 caused serious damage. The shrines of Saints Paulinus, William of Perth and Ithamar drew pilgrims whose offerings helped fund repairs and extensions. The cathedral’s monastic life shaped its development, with several monk-bishops serving in the 13th and 14th centuries. Visitors today find a building that blends early Norman work with later medieval additions. The tower built by Gundulf remains a landmark, and the crypt preserves part of the original undercroft. The quire and transepts show the marks of repeated rebuilding after fires. The cathedral’s interior includes the shrine of St William of Perth and the tomb of Bishop Ernulf. Outside, the cathedral close is quiet and spacious, with traces of the old city walls nearby. The King’s School, founded in the 7th century, still stands close by, linking the cathedral’s past with its present.