Cathedral Priors of Rochester from 1629
/A list of the Cathedral Priors of Rochester from 1629 by David Carder. Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 2019.
From c.1080 until 1540 Rochester Cathedral had a dual personality as both a cathedral and a monastery.1 It was one of ten 'cathedral-priories', a uniquely English arrangement, the others being Bath, Canterbury, Coventry, Durham, Ely, Norwich, Winchester and Worcester (all Benedictine) and Carlisle (Augustinian).2 Although the bishop was the titular abbot, the monastery was run by the prior - hence 'cathedral-priory' - and the senior monks.
At the Reformation the monasteries and other religious houses were dissolved and the inmates - priors, monks, abbots and others - were dispossessed and dispersed. Eight of the ten cathedral-priories, which were dissolved in 1539-40, were re-founded in 1539-42 as cathedrals run by chapters of deans and canons, the exceptions being Bath, which was a co-cathedral with Wells, and Coventry, which was a co-cathedral with Lichfield. Wells and Lichfield Cathedrals, of course, survived, but Bath was subsequently downgraded to a parish church, now known as Bath Abbey, while Coventry was demolished.3
The last prior of a cathedral-priory often became the first dean of the re-founded cathedral4 and former monks sometimes became chapter canons. At Rochester, dissolved in 1540 and re-founded in 1541, the last prior, Walter Boxley, became the first dean under his family name of Philips.
At the same time, in 1540-42, six former abbeys were re-founded as new cathedrals run by chapters: Chester, Gloucester, Peterborough and Westminster (all Benedictine) and Bristol and Osney (both Augustinian). Westminster Abbey was only a cathedral from 1540-56, and in 1546 the cathedral at Osney was transferred to Christ Church, Oxford.
I was therefore surprised to learn that when the Friends stayed at Buckfast Abbey in Devon in 2019 they met the Cathedral Prior of Rochester.5 How could this be since Rochester's last prior, Walter Boxley, was removed in 1540?
So l did some research and found that all the existing cathedrals which were former Benedictine monasteries do indeed have Cathedral Priors, namely Bath, Canterbury, Chester, Coventry, Durham, Ely, Gloucester, Norwich, Peterborough, Rochester, Winchester and Worcester.
Briefly the background to this is as follows.
In the early seventeenth century Englishmen and Welshmen who had become monks in Italian and Spanish monasteries started coming to England as missionaries. In 1619 a papal brief of Pope Paul V, known as 'Ex incumbenti',6 re-established the English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) which was established in 1216 but had been in abeyance since the Reformation. At the EBC General Chapter of 1629 Cathedral Priors were elected, with communities of monks, for the nine former Benedictine cathedral-priories; these appointments were confirmed in 1633 by a papal bull of Pope Urban VIII known as the 'Plantata'.7 The Plantata also appointed Cathedral Priors, with communities of monks, to three of the former Benedictine abbeys which had been re-founded as cathedrals after the Reformation: Peterborough, Chester and Gloucester - by then Westminster was no longer a cathedral.
Cathedral Priors, with communities of monks, to three of the former Benedictine abbeys which had been re-founded as cathedrals after the Reformation: Peterborough, Chester and Gloucester - by then Westminster was no longer a cathedral.
During the nineteenth century the EBC also revived the title of Abbot for seven of the former Benedictine abbeys: St Albans, Westminster, Bury St Edmunds, Glastonbury, St Mary's in York, Evesham and Reading.
And so since 1629 Rochester has had a Cathedral Prior, albeit not residing at Rochester. The current Cathedral Prior of Rochester is the 27th, as shown in the provisional list below.8
| No. | Name | Appointment | Birth & Death |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur (Anselm) Crowther | 1629-57 | 1588-1666 |
| 2 | Francis (Francis of St Benedict) Crathorne | 1657-67 | 1595-1667 |
| 3 | Hugh (Serenus) Cressy | 1669-74 | 1605-74 |
| 4 | Joseph Sherburne | 1677-97 | 1628-97 |
| 5 | (Joseph) Aprice | 1697-1703 | 1650-1703 |
| 6 | Francis Rookwood | 1705-50 | 1660-1750 |
| 7 | Francis (Anselm) Lynch | 1753-77 | 1693-1777 |
| 8 | James (Dunstan) Knight | 1777-87 | 1714-87 |
| 9 | (Oswald) Eaves | 1789-93 | 1739-93 |
| 10 | John (Bede) Brewer | 1794-1802 | 1742-1822 |
| 11 | Richard Marsh | 1802-1810 | 1762-1843 |
| 12 | Archibald (Benedict) MacDonald | 1810-14 | 1739-1814 |
| 13 | Andrew (Bernard) Ryding | 1818-41 | 1752-1841 |
| 14 | James (Benedict) Deday | 1842-45 | 1773-1845 |
| 15 | Thomas (Anselm) Cockshoot | 1846-72 | 1805-72 |
| 16 | Francis (Stanislaus) Giles | 1847-83 | 1814-94 |
| 17 | Percy (Maurus) Anderson | 1883-1900 | 1828-1900 |
| 18 | William (Romuald) Woods | 1901-07 | 1833-1907 |
| 19 | John (Placid) Whittle | 1908-20 | 1838-1920 |
| 20 | Edward (Hilary) Willson | 1922-48 | 1858-1948 |
| 21 | Edward Stanislaus (Anselm) Parker | 1949-61 | 1880-1962 |
| 22 | Alfred (Basil) Bolton | 1967-76 | 1887-1976 |
| 23 | Owen John (Anselm) Strittmatter | 1976-78 | 1894-1978 |
| 24 | (Thomas) McLaughlin | 1978-79 | 1914-79 |
| 25 | (Denis) Mercer | 1985-95 | 1910-95 |
| 26 | John Vincent (Luke) Waring | 1995-2016 | 1927-2016 |
| 27 | Gavin (Francis) Straw | 2017- | 1959- |
David Carder
Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 2019.Footnotes
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1 In c.1080 Bishop Gundulph replaced five secular canons with 22 Benedictine monks.
2 There were also nine medieval 'secular' cathedrals, run by deans with chapters of secular canons, which continued after the Reformation. They were Chichester, Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield, Lincoln, London (St Paul's), Salisbury, Wells and York.
3 This was the Cathedral-Priory of St Mary. Coventry Diocese was re-established in 1918 with the former parish church of St Michael as its cathedral, but this was bombed in WW2.
4 This happened at Carlisle, Durham, Ely, Rochester, Winchester and Worcester.
5 See page 10.
6 These are available in English at www.plantata.org.uk/documents.php.
7 The main source for the list is: TB Snow, Obit Book of the English Benedictines from 1600 to 1912, Edinburgh, 1913, which can be viewed at: catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005790192. I am grateful to the present Cathedral Prior, Father Francis Straw, and to Abbot Geoffrey Scott for their help with compiling the list. There are some periods of several years when no appointment was made.
8 Names in brackets are monastic religious names, although some may also be baptismal names.
David Carder
Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 2019
Footnotes
Use your browsers 'back' button to jump back to the text.
1 In c.1080 Bishop Gundulph replaced five secular canons with 22 Benedictine monks.
2 There were also nine medieval 'secular' cathedrals, run by deans with chapters of secular canons, which continued after the Reformation. They were Chichester, Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield, Lincoln, London (St Paul's), Salisbury, Wells and York.
3 This was the Cathedral-Priory of St Mary. Coventry Diocese was re-established in 1918 with the former parish church of St Michael as its cathedral, but this was bombed in WW2.
4 This happened at Carlisle, Durham, Ely, Rochester, Winchester and Worcester.
5 See page 10.
6 These are available in English at www.plantata.org.uk/documents.php.
7 The main source for the list is: TB Snow, Obit Book of the English Benedictines from 1600 to 1912, Edinburgh, 1913, which can be viewed at: catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005790192. I am grateful to the present Cathedral Prior, Father Francis Straw, and to Abbot Geoffrey Scott for their help with compiling the list. There are some periods of several years when no appointment was made.
8 Names in brackets are monastic religious names, although some may also be baptismal names.
The Friends of Rochester Cathedral were founded to help finance the maintenance of the fabric and grounds. The Friends’ annual reports have become a trove of articles on the fabric and history of the cathedral.
