Parish Trip to Rochester

Rochester Cathedral As the organisers had decreed on Saturday, 19th November at 8.30 a.m. sharp a party of twenty five parishioners left the Braywick car park bound for Rochester. Although I had been there once before, on that occasion it rained very hard and the only view of the town was a quick dash from the coach to the place where lunch had been booked and back to the coach.

The passengers, as is usuual on these trips, were each handed a short guide and potted history of the place we were to visit, thus enabling people to plan how they wanted to use their free time before our guided tour of the Cathedral after lunch. There was no shortage of things to do and see. What a delight it was to visit a town that had retained its character with butchers, bakers and candlestick makers as I remember them, and no chain stores to be seen. The Guildhall Museum with many relics, some going back to pre-roman times was well worth a visit as well as the Norman Castle.

Rochester Cathedral is one of the smallest Norman cathedrals and its nave is the oldest in England and it is regarded as one of the finest Norman cathedrals in the country. The bishopric is second oldest in England after Canterbury.

The cathedral and city has had a violent past and was attacked by the Mercians and the Danes. However, it 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.

The cathedral suffered a steep decline after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, during which time the Crown confiscated its estates, and it became dilapidated and disreputable. Samuel Pepys dismissed it as a “shabby place”. It underwent several restorations in the 19th century, eventually restoring it to a reasonable facsimile of its original 11th century condition.

While many cathedrals are known for who is buried within their confines, Rochester is known for who is not buried there - Charles Dickens had excpressed a wish to be buried in the churchyard at Rochester, but instead, his body was buried in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Following our conducted tour of the Cathedral, a delicious cream tea was consumed in the Cathedral tea rooms before most of the party proceeded to Choral Evensong in the Cathedral - a fitting end to the day - before boarding our coach for the return journey.

Thanks to our Social Committee, two of whom were unfortunately unable to take part on the day, a splendid day was enjoyed by all concerned.