Rochester - Rochester Castle

Rochester, today a town with a population of around 24,000, was founded by the Romans in 43 AD as a fortified town with a bridge over the Medway River.

The area had been inhabited by Romano-British, Jutes and Saxons since the Anglo-Saxon conquest in the middle of the 5th century. In 604, St Augustine of Canterbury sent Justus to build a cathedral near Rochester. The cathedral´s school, the King's School, still exists today. Rochester became the second episcopal see on the British Isles after Canterbury.

In 676, Rochester was sacked by Æthelred of Mercia. In the Viking Age, the city was sacked by the Danes in 842 and 884. In 877, Alfred of Wessex ordered ships to be built to fight the Danes. This heralded the era of shipbuilding in the towns on the Medway. In 930, Rochester was granted the right to mint coins. Around 1100 Bishop Gundulf began building the new Rochester Cathedral on the remains of the former cathedral. The cathedral was completed in 1130. In 1215, the city was conquered by John, King of England (John Lackland) and attacked by Simon V de Montfort in 1264.

The castle was probably built shortly after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The castle is first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

During the rebellion of 1088 against the new King William II, the king learnt that Bishop Odo of Bayeux, one of the leaders of the rebels, was on his way from Rochester to Pevensey, a castle belonging to Robert of Mortain. The king reacted quickly and was able to capture his two uncles Robert and Odo. Odo was made to swear that he would persuade the garrison of Rochester Castle to surrender, and the king sent him to the castle with a small force. When they called on the citizens of Rochester to open the gates, the castle garrison made a mounted charge, overpowered the royal soldiers and entered the city in triumph with the freed Bishop Odo. The enraged king immediately began the siege of Rochester. After a siege lasting several weeks, the castle garrison including Bishop Odo, Eustach of Boulogne and Robert of Bellême were forced to surrender. The rebels were allowed to leave England with their horses and weapons, but lost their English possessions and titles.


This was the first of three sieges in the Middle Ages that ruined the castle complex so that a slow decline began. In 1314, Elizabeth de Burgh, the wife of the Scottish king who was in English captivity, was briefly held prisoner in the castle. In 1363, King Edward III decided to carry out extensive renovations. The castle was renovated and the two towers on the eastern curtain wall were erected. Between 1383 and 1393, a new stone bridge was built over the Medway.

However, the castle had lost its military importance and fell into disrepair. In 1599, Queen Elizabeth I authorised the demolition of parts of the curtain wall so that the stones could be used to strengthen the coastal defences.