THE CITY OF ROCHESTER

Is situated on the banks of the Medway, which, from the swift,

ness of its stream in this part of its course, was called by the Britons, Dur-brif;* an appellation that was afterwards given to the city itself; though the Romans latinized it to DUROBRIVE, or DUROBRIVIS, as it is written in Antoninus. In the decline of the Roman Empire, this name was contracted to Roibis, as appears from the Peutingerian Tables. The Saxons again altered it to Hrof-ceastre, from a chief named Hrof, said, by Bede, to have

*Lambard's Perambulation, p. 293. "The learned in astronomie," says the same author, "be of the opinion, that if Jupiter, Mercurie, or any other planet, approach within certain degrees of the Sunne, and be burned (as they term it) under his beames, that then it hath in maner no influence at all, but yealdeth whǝly to the Sunne that overshineth it and some men beholding the nearnesse of these two Bishopricks, Canterbury and Rochester, and comparing the bright glory, pompe and primarie of the one, with the contrarie altogether in the other, have fancied Rochester so overshadowed and obscured, that they recken it no Sce or Bishoprick of itself, but only a place of a meere Suffragan, and Chaplain to Canterbury. But he that shall either advisedly weigh the first institution of them bothe, or but indifferently consider the estate of cyther, shall easily finde, that Rochester hathe not only a lawful and canonical Cathedral See of itself, but that the same was also more honestly won and obteined, than ever that of Canterbury was. ·. Ibid. p. 266. Edit. 1576.

have been the principal citizen; and this latter appellation has, by lapse of time, been converted into Rochester.

This was one of the Stipendiary Cities of the Romans; and many Roman remains have, at different times, been dug up here. In the Castle Gardens, and its vicinity, abundance of coins have been found; principally of the Emperors Vespasian, Trajan, Adrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Constantius, and Constantine the Great. Even within the walls of the great tower, or keep, of the Castle itself, Roman coins of Vespasian, Trajan, and of the Lower Empire, have been met with. In the present ruined walls of the Cathedral precinct, Roman bricks are worked up; and it is probable that the whole city stands on the original Roman site. Various Roman antiquities were also found, about seventy years ago, in levelling a part of a large artificial mount, called Bully Hill, which is situated at a small distance southward from the Castle. These consisted of vessels of glazed earthenware, as urns, jugs, Patera, &c. The largest urn was of a lead color, in height thirteen inches; and in circumference, two feet, seven inches, in the widest part: it contained ashes, and human bones. The Patera were of fine red earth, and of different sizes and shapes.§

The Roman History of Rochester is completely barren; nor did it arrive at any celebrity till the conversion of Ethelbert, the Saxon King of Kent, to the Christian faith, in 597, soon after which, that Prince caused the Church of St. Andrew to be erected, and raised the City into a Bishop's See. It was still, however, principally

* Thorpe's Custumale Roffense, p. 147. "There have likewise been found at different times in the gardens near the Castle, and in St. Mar, garet's, a fibula vestiaria, in silver, and many other valuable relics."

+ Gough's Camden, p. 233.

Hasted's Kent, Vol. I. Fo. p. 52, (note.)

Ibid.

Many of these vessels were given to Dr. Thorpe, father of J. Thorpe, Esq. and are particularly described by the latter in his Custu male Roff. p. 145,

principally considered as a military station; and Bede styles it a 'Castle of the Kentishmen.' In the year 676, Ethelred, King of Mercia, having invaded Kent, destroyed Rochester, and returned with the plunder he had collected into his own dominions.* The Danish invaders were also very frequent visitors in this city; and its inhabitants often felt the effects of their inhumanity; but particularly in 839, when they sacked the place, and committed unheard-of cruelties.' In 885, they besieged it ineffectually, the inhabitants bravely withstanding them, till they were driven to their ships by the great Alfred. In 986, it was again besieged by King Ethelred, who had taken umbrage at the haughtiness of the Bishop of Rochester; but finding himself unable to subdue the city, he desisted, and gratified his vengeance by laying waste all the lands belonging to the See. Twelve years afterwards, the inhabitants fled with terror at the approach of the Danish fleet, and the city was once more pillaged to the uttermost; nor did it from this period attempt any resistance to the invader's yoke.

In the time of Edward the Confessor, Rochester belonged to the Crown, William the Conqueror granted it to his half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Baieux; and its value is thus recorded in the Domesday Book. "The city of Rochester, in the time of King Edward the Confessor, was worth 100 shillings, and the like when the Bishop received it; now it is worth 20 pounds; yet he who held it paid 40 pounds."

On the disgrace of Odo, in the year 1083, Rochester, with his other possessions, were seized by the King, and it continued in the Crown for a long period, Henry the First farmed it out to the citizens, at the yearly rent of 201. which was paid by the Præposi tus, or Bailiff, He also granted to Bishop Gundulph, and the Church of Rochester, an annual fair, to be held on the eve and day of St. Paulinus, together with various rights and immunities. In the same reign, on the eleventh of May, 1130, while Henry himself, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and many of the nobility, and other prelates, were at Rochester, on account of the consecration of the VOL. VII. OCT. 1806. Cathedral

Rr.

*Bede, lib. iv. chap. 12. Hunt. lib. i. p. 318.