Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (cathedra) of the Bishop of Rochester, the second oldest bishopric in England after that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The present cathedral, rebuilt on the site of its predecessor in the Norman style, is a Grade I listed building.
Gundulf (or Gundulph) (c. 1024 – 1108) was a Norman monk who went to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. He was appointed Bishop of Rochester and Prior of the Cathedral Priory there. He built several castles, including Rochester, Colchester and the White Tower of the Tower of London, and the Priory and Cathedral Church of Rochester.
Rochester (/ˈrɒtʃɪstər/ ROTCH-iss-tər) is a port town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about 30 miles (50 km) east-southeast of London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillingham. Rochester was a city until losing its status as one in 1998 following the forming of Medway and failing to protect its status as a city, the first city to do so in the history of the United Kingdom. There have been ongoing campaigns to reinstate the city status for Rochester. In 2011 it had a population of 62,982.
Rochester was for many years a favourite of Charles Dickens, who owned nearby Gads Hill Place, Higham, basing many of his novels on the area. The Diocese of Rochester, the second-oldest in England, is centred on Rochester Cathedral and was responsible for founding a school, now The King's School, in 604 AD, which is recognised as the second-oldest continuously running school in the world. Rochester Castle, built by Bishop Gundulf of Rochester, has one of the best-preserved keeps in either England or France. During the First Barons' War (1215–1217) in King John's reign, baronial forces captured the castle from Archbishop Stephen Langton and held it against the king, who then besieged it.
The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal signature is: " (firstname) Roffen", Roffensis being the Latinised adjective referring to Rochester.
An ancient diocese, it was established with the authority of King Æthelberht of Kent by Augustine of Canterbury in 604 at the same time as the see of London. Only the adjacent Diocese of Canterbury is older in England. Its establishment was the first part of an unrealised plan conceived by Pope Gregory the Great for Augustine of Canterbury to consecrate 12 bishops in different places and another 12 for the prospective see (later province) of York.
King's School, Rochester, is a private co-educational all through day and boarding school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and is part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral. The school claims to be the second oldest continuously operating school in the world, having been founded in 604 AD.