Royal Progress Day 14

Day 14 Rochester There has been a church on the site of Rochester Cathedral since 604AD. The present cathedral building dates from the late 1100s. It has some of the oldest choir stalls in England but the Victorian restoration around the choir and chancel has changed the character of the place a little. As cathedrals go it’s not very large but it’s still third in the hierarchy of the Church of England. It was in the Bishops Palace on 1 January 1540 that Henry VIII first set eyes on Anne of Cleves. He was in disguise and she was not informed as to how she should react. To say that Henry was not best pleased was an understatement and he stormed out, shouting “I like her not!” He came back in a few minutes later and you can imagine that he must have had a face like thunder. Right next door to the cathedral is Rochester Castle. It was built around the same time and besieged by King John in during the Barons War which led to Magna Carta. He managed to undermine the castle keep by setting fire to pit props which had been smeared with the fat of 40 pigs and the heat made the side of the keep come crashing down. As an aside Rochester is famous for Charles Dickens. It seems that every shop in the High St is Great Expectations this, and Sweet Expectations that or Mrs Peagotti tea rooms. There are old buildings that have plaques stating they are as described in Dicken’s works. A couple of miles away from Rochester lies Upnor Castle, the only Castle Elizabeth ordered to be built during her entire 45 years on the throne. The castle is very small and saw real action in the Dutch raid of 1667 when the Dutch fleet blew the Royal Navy out of the water as they were anchored in the river Medway. The main first floor block house room is used today as a wedding venue where guests watch the wedding ceremony whilst sitting on barrels of gunpowder (empty of course!) The thought of exploding guests made us laugh out loud. The poor bride would have had to have walked through the ground floor barrack room past exhibits of cannons and more barrels of gunpowder before climbing a narrow wooden spiral staircase. Not to be undertaken if she’s wearing full wedding skirts! We had a beer in the delightful Kings Arms before heading back for our second night in the Astor Wing at Hever Castle.