Hi, and welcome to somewhere very close to home
The historic Rochester in Kent
and when I say close - it's about five miles away
And why not subscribe?
because we do go a little further afield, I promise
Rochester is in the south-east of England
in the beautiful county of Kent
Roughly 30 miles from the centre of London
Today's journey will take us along
the full length of the High Street before doubling back
to head up towards The Vines
where we cut across
take a slight detour, to then pick up The Precinct
before heading onto the Cathedral
looping back towards Rochester Castle
and finally on to the Esplanade
So let's start with the High Street
and I said this will be historic
The High Street follows the ancient Roman road
from London to Dover known as Watling Street
and this has been the route
from London to the continent for hundreds of years
even a young Princess Victoria stopped at the Bull Hotel
prompting a name change
and if you've got time on your hands
then I recommend checking out the Guildhall Museum
it's free, has a wonderful interior
and tell some fascinating stories
and another place to explore is Baggin's Book Bazaar
this wonderful secondhand bookstore
is like Dr Who's Tardis
it's much bigger on the inside than you'd expect
one of the things I love about wandering down Rochester High Steet
is the different styles of buildings from different periods
all with their own unique history and story
and talking of Rochester and stories
there's one name that springs to mind
A Mr Charles Dickens
you may discover as you wander along
plaques that designate that this building or that building
featured in one of his works
Now, one of the buildings that stands out for me
is the Old Corn Exchange with its clock
I think it's just striking
It's not long before you come to College Gate
which leads up towards the Cathedral and the Castle
but hey we're moving on up further along the High Street
and I love the high street from Johnson's hardware store on our left
to those aimed at tourists with loose links to Charles Dickens
there's a fine selection of bars, cafes, restaurants all manner shops
There's almost something for everyone
Halfway along the high street
you'll come across Rochester's visitor centre
it's also home to a bijou art gallery
and Britain's only Huguenot museum
for those that don't know, the Huguenots were French protestants
who fled their country due to religious persecution
and settled around the world, bringing their skills with them
and in 1959 La Providence, or the French Hospital
was relocated to Rochester
and it provides almshouses to those of Huguenot descent
As I mentioned Rochester has one or two pubs
and if I have a designated driver with me then
sometimes I may pop into my favourite
the Shepherd Neame Two Brewers
One of the most impressive buildings along Rochester High Street
has to be Eastgate house
This late 16th-century manor house is now under public ownership
and I'll add a link in the description below to detail the opening times
you're free to wander around the garden at the back
where there's some local history as well as the relocated swiss cottage
where Charles Dickens penned some of his works
there's plenty more variety as you stroll down the high street
but it's time to turn around and head back to take in The Vines
We now want to take ourselves up Crow Lane
past Rochester Baptist Church
where you'll start to notice the name "Vines" appear
It's at the top of the hill we come across Restoration House
so named as King Charles II stayed here prior to his restoration to the throne
It's opposite here, you come across the park known as 'The Vines'
that was once a vineyard
so if you think winemaking in England is a new thing
think again
The park makes an excellent place to stop, have a picnic, and just relax for a while
Now I want to take you to an area that i believe is called 'The Precinct'
but I'm not going to tell you the direct route
I'm going to take you on a little detour
and the cause of the detour well yep it's a pub
The Coopers' Arms
certainly worth popping into if you're in town if you have the chance
it's a great little pub
with a nice shot of the Castle we now heading towards the precinct
past the Priors Gate, another medieval structure in Rochester
but we're not going to step through, once again, a little detour
around Minor Cannon Row, where we discover a row of terraced houses
from around 1725
It's now not far until we reach Rochester's Cathedral
our first view is through the garden gate to the cloister garth gardens
where we saw the 'Knife Angel' exhibition
Rochester Cathedral does hold several exhibitions throughout the course of the year
check their website, which I'll include in the description below for more details
Rochester Cathedral is England's second oldest - dating back to ad 604
although what you see before you is much newer
dating from about 1080 I told you there's plenty of history in Rochester
I haven't included any footage from inside the cathedral as a matter of respect
However we have written a post on it
so once again I'll leave a link in the description below
Outside Rochester cathedral stands a Catalpa Tree
or an American Indian Bean tree, said to be between 140 and 150 years old
and again we come across College Gate Or to give it its other names
The Chertsey Gate, the Cemetery Gate and Jasper's Gate
Once again, a Charles Dickens reference
but now it's time to head up towards the Norman Castle
we stroll up Boley Hill, along the western edges of the castle's walls
and here you get some pretty impressive views of the keep of the castle
but the observant may notice that actually one of the towers is circular
and the others are square but we'll get to that in a minute
here we can see King's School the second oldest in the world
and then you come across stories of sieges and pie powder courts
there's just so much history here
The Norman Castle dates from around about 1080
built by the Normans after the Battle of Hastings of 1066
although the impressive keep standing before us
dates from around about 1127
so let's get back to that round tower
and it does indeed have to do with the siege of 1215
When King John laid siege the castle that was held by local rebels
So they mined under the southeast corner
supported wooden trellises, before setting light to it
you may have seen the movie Ironclad
that was very, very, loosely based on that story
Nowadays the grounds are a great place to relax
and the castle itself is certainly worth a visit
and in the northeast of the grounds, you'll come across a cannon
this was captured during a Crimean war from the Russians
It's here we take the steps down to our final destination of the esplanade
okay that's a little bit of a fib here's the gardens from the castle walls
actually, this is another place where you can just stop, relax
and enjoy the boats moored uponthe river Medway
what's taking in the view of the Medway bridge
Well that brings our visit to Rochester to an end
if you like this why not check out Faversham another fabulous Kentish town
Or the story of the Norman invasion from Battle
Thanks so much for watching take care and safe travels