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Rochester Castle

(vero;2022-Oct-30)

Rochester is a pleasant town on the right bank of the river Medway and its Norman castle is quite a sight. It is an architectural masterpiece and the tallest surviving such tower of its type in Europe (38 metres).

The first castle in Rochester was made of timber and erected shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066 to protect the river crossing and the access to London; it saw military action very quickly when Odo, Bishop of Bayeux rebelled against his nephew, King William II (son of the Conqueror) and occupied the place in 1088. William regained the castle after a siege of several weeks but it was abandoned after the garrison's capitulation. The king then commissioned Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, to rebuild the defences in stone. In 1127 King Henry I granted the castle to the bishop's seat of Canterbury in perpetuity and archbishop William de Corbeil (1070-1136) built the massive keep that can still be seen today. The castle remained in the custody of the archbishops throughout the 12th century.

Close-up from the keep seen from the south-east (cathedral side).

Remains of the crenellated curtain wall which is one of the earliest surviving parts of the castle and was built by Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, in the late 11th century.

The entrance to the keep was on the first floor, in a rectangular turret or forebuilding against the north-west front. The entrance door stood at the head of an external stair. This door opened on to a waiting room from which an inner door, protected by a portcullis, led into the main part of the keep.

The walls of the keep are made mostly of Kentish ragstone, but the corners of the building and the arched windows were made of finely shaped Caen stone from Normandy, the same material used in the Tower of London. And this is what came into our minds when we saw the keep for the first time: it reminded us immediately of the Tower of London.

Inside the keep: the ground floor was used for storage, with the three storeys above providing accommodation. The first floor probably contained a hall and great chamber, divided by a cross wall (on the left of the picture). The second floor contained the best accommodation and some of its most elaborate decoration (see the openings in the cross wall broken by a series of Romanesque columns between round-headed arches finely decorated with chevrons). This floor is about 8 m high and surrounded by a gallery in its upper half built into the thickness of the walls; it also housed a chapel. The third floor had a second chapel and access to the roof and may have held additional accommodation.

The cross wall carried a well shaft with a well-head at each floor; this is one of them. This impressed me very much: there was access to water at every level, how modern ;-)

The interior of the keep is divided for its entire height by a cross wall running east-west as shown on this picture. The shaft of the well is visible in the middle of the picture with openings on every floor.

The picture shows the chevron decoration on the arches of the arcade on the second floor which was where the lord of the place lived and entertained his guests.

Another view of the second floor. The thickness of the outside walls allowed rooms to be built into them.

Another view of the cross wall and the well shaft.

The decorated cross wall of the second floor with yet again the well shaft running along its height.

Panorama view of Rochester and the Medway taken from the top of the keep. The cathedral can be seen on the right. Press F to expand the picture to its real size and use the bottom scroll bar to navigate through it.

Close-up of the cathedral seen from the top of the keep.

Go back to Dover Castle, go on to Bayham Old Abbey or up to Kent