Archaeology and Rochester Cathedral
/Tim Tatton-Brown reviews the archaeological and historical evidence at Rochester Cathedral. Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 1997-1998.
Introduction
The County of Kent is unique in having within it two diocese, both of which originated in the years immediately after St. Augustine's arrival in England in AD 597. Because of this, the diocese of Rochester, which only occupies the western third of Kent, has always been in the shadow of Canterbury. In fact in the later Anglo-Saxon period, and for over a century and a half after the arrival in 1077 of Gundulf, its most famous bishop, it was totally controlled from Canterbury, with the Bishop of Rochester being little more than a suffragan to the archbishop. Gundulf did, however, 'look after' the diocese of Canterbury during the long interegnum between 1089 and 1093 and during Anselm's exile. Only in 1238 did the archbishop cease to hold the patronage of the bishopric.?
During that century and a half, however, Rochester Cathedral gained much from the archbishop's patronage and Canterbury's great wealth, and as a result much of the medieval shell of the present cathedral was built during that period of 'subservience'. It is also important to remember that Gundulf's arrival as bishop saw the conversion of the cathedral from a secular to a major monastic one (there were over 60 monks by 1108) and the heyday of Rochester's Benedictine priory was from the end of the eleventh century until the early fourteenth century. By the end of the twelfth century, for example, it already had a library with over 300 books, and a fine collection of claustral buildings; the latter, most unusually, situated to the south-east of the cathedral.'
Since the late eleventh century Rochester Cathedral has always been overshadowed, literally, by a great royal castle which has undergone several major sieges (in 1088, 1215, and 1264). These periods of chaos naturally had an adverse affect on the cathedral and priory, which occupied a very constrained site between the castle, high street and city walls in the souther part of the city.' In 1215, for example, we know that king John desecrated the cathedral, and stole the silver retable from behind the High Altar.
Today the most noticeable thing about Rochester Cathedral is the evidence it exhibits, particularly the external evidence, for massive restoration and rebuilding campaigns in the last century and a half. These restorations, which affected almost all of the fabric of the cathedral, will be looked at further below, as they of course greatly influence any understanding of the earlier medieval fabric of the building. Despite this, Rochester still contains some exceptionally important remains (the mid-twelfth-century west doorway, the remains of the uniquely early thirteenth-century choir stalls and the early fourteenth-century 'chapter room' doorway, to mention just three examples), and it is time for much more archaelogical recording to take place in the cathedral.
As it happens, almost all previous and archaelogical work on the fabric of the cathedral, below and above ground, took place in the second half of the nineteenth century, and this too will be considered in more detail below. The culmination of this work was Sir William St. John Hope's monumental architectural history of the cathedral church and monastery of St. Andrew at Rochester', and this is still unsurpassed as the standard work. It is, however, greatly in need of revision.?
Restoring Rochester Cathedral
Before the major restoration campaigns of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the cathedral was the subject of a number of repairs and minor restorations, the documentary evidence for which has been gathered by Hope.
The shrines of Saints Paulinus, Ythamar and William must have been smashed in 1538, followed ten years later by the altars, images, etc. In 1591, however, after a major fire in the chancel, a restoration (costing £5 5s. 6d.) was carried out. The Treasurer's accounts tell us that this included the making of a new pulpit with iron, wainscot, etc. Seven years later, Merton College, Oxford paid for a new monument for their founder, Bishop Walter (1274-7). Archbishop Laud's Visitation of 1633 records that 'the cathedral suffered much for want of glass in the church windows', and the Dean and Chapter duly replied that there hath been of late vears upon the fabric of the church, and making of the organs, expended by the church above one thousand pounds.'
Work on the west front is also recorded at about this time.
In September 1642 the cathedral was plundered and damaged, though not as badly as Canterbury and many other cathedrals. After this the body of the church (the nave) was used as a carpenter's shop and yard, several saw pits being dug, and frames for houses made by the city joiners in it'.a
Soon after the Restoration of Charles II, major repairs took place, and Bishop John Warner (1637-66) left £2,000 towards this work in his will. We are also told that Dean Nathaniel Hardy (1660-70) 'took great pains to repair the whole of it, which was affected by means of the benefactions of the gentry of the county, and £7,000 added by the Dean and Chapter.'
Among particular areas of work mentioned are the south aisle wall restored and recased in 1664. This was no doubt required after the destruction in the 1650s of the neighbouring buildings of the bishop's palace. In 1670, 40 feet of the north aisle was 'rebuilt from the ground. This was in the middle section, and evidence for this is still visible as it is here that the Romanesque pilasters and decorated string courses are missing. In 1680 repairs were also carried out to the tower and spire.
During the eighteenth century other repairs and refurbishings are also recorded in the Chapter Act Books, though the physical evidence for almost all of this was swept away in the 19th century. In 1707, for example, a new altar piece of 'Norway oak' was put up, while in 1742-3 the choir was repaired.
as to new wainscot stalls, pews, etc., at a large expense and very handsomely new paved in Bremen and Portland stone under the direction of Mr Sloane, at which time the bishop's throne was rebuilt at the charge of bishop Joseph Willocks'."
Charles Sloane (1690-1764) was a typical eighteenth-century man-of-many-parts. He lived at Gravesend and was a carpenter architect, surveyor and cartographer. In 1731-3 he had been the rebuilder of St. George's church, Gravesend (he also designed the town hall there) and was the surveyor of various new Turnpike roads in west Kent and the rebuilder of Dartford Bridge.
He also drew estate maps and in 1744 started to build debtors' prison at Maidstone. Soon afterwards he became mayor of Gravesend.° At Rochester Cathedral he repaired and refitted the choir in 1742-3, and in 1749 he also designed and 'started to erect a new steeple', For this, we are told 'he made a wooden model, which was still preserved in St. William's Chapel in the late 18th century. Sadly the model has subsequently disappeared. If it could be rediscovered, it might tell us much about the original 1343 spire which was destroyed in 1826. Whether Sloane built a brand-new timber and lead spire or Just repaired the existing structure is unknown. The latter, however, is much more likely. Two years later, in 1751, two great brick buttresses were built in support the south-east transept 'on pursuance of the advice of the late Me Sleane (Sloane did not in fact die until 1764, however). The following year, Archbishop Herring, a former Dean of Rochester, gave 250 for furnishing the altar ares Twenty years later the south-east transept was still a great cause for concer with its considerable lean to more likely. Two years later, in 1751, two great brick buttresses were built to support the south-east transept 'on pursuance of the advice of the late Ar (Sloane did not in fact die until 1764, however). The following wear Herring, a former Dean of Rochester, gave £50 for furnishine alea
Twenty years later the south-east transept was still a great cause for its considerable lean to the south. It's roof was then 'lichtened gable end), and the Scottish architect Robert Mvlne (1733. designed and built the new Blackfriars Bridge in London also reported on the condition of the north-west tower 1768, where he was Surveyor to the Fabric (he held the same post at St Pauls Cathedral). He surveyed Rochester Cathedral in 1776-7 and:
'By his direction piles of brick have been reared in the undercroft and within the aisle, and other methods used to discharge the weight of the upper works. The scheme has hitherto fully answered the purpose',"
Most of the brickwork put into the crypt at this time is still visible, though the outer wall was completely rebuilt half a century later by Cottingham. Some time after this (probably at the beginning of the nineteenth century), the top of the bell-tower (Gundulf's tower, as it was now called) was removed and used 'for building material. At least the rest of the bell-tower did not come down as it did at Salisbury Cathedral in 1790. In 1763 the pinnacles on the outer turrets of the west front were taken down, and the remainder of the north turret was rebuilt 'from the ground'. Shortly afterwards a crenelled top was added to this turret and to the west end of the nave aisle roofs." By the end of the eighteenth century the cathedral was in a sad state. It was described thus by the Kent historian, Edward Hasted:
'Notwithstanding which [ie. the earlier restorations), time has so corroded and weakened every part of this building, that its future existence for any length of time has been much feared, but this church has lately had every endeavour used, and great repairs have been made which it is hoped will secure it from the fatal ruin which has threatened it, the inside has been beautified, and being kept exceeding clean, it makes at this time a very pleasing appearance.'
A decade or so later, however, there was to be more destruction, and the north and south transept gables were taken down and replaced by lower ones of 'debased classical character'.I
In 1825 the first of a series of large-scale and very costly restorations (and rebuildings) got underway. This work culminated eighty vears later with the rebuilding of the spire, and since that time (now nearly a century ago) no other major changes have taken place. The first of these campaigns, which cost nearly £10,000 was carried out by Lewis Cottingham from 1825-1830, and it is only possible here to summarize the main works:15
a) The demolition of the spire and tower upper staas and the recasing of the
The demolition of the spire and tower upper stage and the recasing of the lower stage and building of a large new tower upper stage with pinnacles.
The removal of the brick buttresses and recasing of the south-east transept with a new vertical face and gable above of Bath stone.
The taking down and removal of the great west window and the decorated spandrels over it, and the battlemented parapet above. The whole renewed in Bath stone. Hope says that the remains of the old Norman diaper-pattern decoration was 'relegated to the crypt'."
Partial repair of two western corner turrets.
The arches into the eastern aisle unblocked, and the doorway and screen at the west end of the south choir aisle removed eastwards to the southernmost of the two arches at the top of the steps."
Complete refurbishment of the choir 'to the designs of Mr Blore'. This was Edward Blore (1787-1879), another well-known architect.' A new 'Gothic organ case and west front to the pulpitum was also made after most of the eighteenth-century woodwork was removed. The surviving pulpit was probably of Blore's design, as suggested by Dr John Physick.
Provision of major new roof trusses over the choir and eastern arm, with a slate covering (these roofs still survive).
Refurbishing of the presbytery, including the replacement of the high altar area.
During this work the painted effigy and tomb of Bishop John of Sheppey (died 1360) was rediscovered. It had been walled up in 1681 behind the great monument to Archdeacon Lee Warner. Unfortunately the effigy was subsequently heavily repainted, so little now survives to tell us anything about the medieval colours. An undated account of the tomb was published soon afterwards entitled Some Account of an Ancient Tomb, etc, discovered at Rochester Cathedral by L.N. Cottingham, Arch. There was also notes in the Gentlemen's Magazine (95, parts i and i (1825), 76 and 225-6) and in Archaelogia (25, 122-6). This perhaps counts as the first 'archaelogical' work at Rochester Cathedral. A little bit later on, while removing the choir pulpit, Cottingham uncovered the magnificent fragment of a thirteenth-century 'wheel of fortune' wall-painting in the choir.
In 1853 Bishop Walter of Merton's tomb was once again totally rebuilt. All the seventeenth-century work was swept away parts of this now lie in fragments in the cathedral lapidarium, and R.C. Hussey was commissioned to produce a new effigy. The earlier effigy was moved into the neighbouring north-east transept bay.? It now seems to have disappeared.
In 1871, George Gilbert Scott (knighted the following year) started work on an even larger campaign of restoration (the cost was over £30,000), and between 1872 and his death in 1878, the following major works were undertaken:
The underpinning of the south transept (1872) and the rebuilding of the gable wall above.
Rebuilding of the east end, including high gable restoration, and inserting three new 13th-century windows' in the upper wall to replace 'an ugly late perpendicular window'.2 Also three lower lancets in east wall restored.
Much refacing of the eastern arm generally (including north and northeast transepts) and replacing of decayed Reigate stone with Chilmark stone.
Also new high-pitched gables and many pinnacles added to the tops of angle-turrets (the proposed new high-pitched roofs over the presbytery have never been built).
Blocking of triforium passages and inserting of iron ties in the nave to counteract weaknesses in nave wall. Also underpinning of south nave aisle wall (1875-6).
Cutting of tunnel from crypt (west end) to under the pulpitum screen for the windtrunks for the organ bellows, also rebuilding of organ (1875).
Complete repaving and refurbishing of choir and presbytery with new high altar and reredos (1873-5). Rediscovery and repainting of fourteenth-century wall-paintings behind the eighteenth-century panelling behind the choir-stalls.22
Start of west front restoration, but Scott died before much work was done (1878).
In a letter, to the Dean and Chapter, about this last stage of his work, Scott says:
'The Norman remains are almost too valuable to be interfered with. It is an open question whether a restoration, in part conjectural, should be attempted or whether it may not be best to adhere to the present form of the front, and to limit our operations to more necessary repairs.!'
A very wise statement which should have been adhered to. The young William St. John Hope, who came to teach at Rochester just three years after Scott's death, said in summary:23
'A good deal of necessary repair work was done to the stonework, and on the whole the 'restoration' was conservative and involved the destruction of very little old work.'
The restoration was certainly mild by Scott's standards, but several important features (like the perpendicular east window) were totally destroyed without drawn records. There is, however, a fine Buckler drawing of 1805 showing the east front before Scott's 'restoration' (Fig. 1) as well as several internal views Scott's use of poor quality Chilmark stone, which he also introduced a Westminster Abbey, to replace Reigate stone, was very unwise, During the earlier part of the work, however, Scott used J.T. Irvine as his clerk of works (1872-6), and, as we shall see, the latter made many valuable notes and drawings.
Unfortunately the major campaign of restoration on the west front, which Scott had thought 'almost too valuable to be interfered with' was carried out by I.L Pearson between 1888 and 1894. He had no qualms about destroying the fifteenth-century inner north turret in 1892, despite the protests of the Society of Antiquaries of London and others, and undertaking a totally conjectural reconstruction of the Norman work. At least no huge new 'Romanesque' crossing or western towers and spires were suggested here by J.L, Pearson, as he had proposed at Peterborough and was to propose at Chichester Cathedral, Pearson also wanted to remove the pulpitum screen and replace it with an new open stone screen. He was, however, prevented from doing this after many protests.
The final, and almost inevitable, restoration campaign after Cottingham's destruction in 1826 of the squat fourteenth-century tower and large lead and limber spire, was its replacement. This was carried out in 1904 by C. Hodgson Fowler, and it now dominates the cathedral. Only very roughly does it reflect the medieval structure.
Thus, by the early years of this century almost the whole of the outside, and much of the eastern arm internal furnishings had been totally replaced at Rochester Cathedral with very few detailed records having been made." It is now time, therefore, to turn to archaeology - below and above ground - to see what contribution this has made to the architectural history of the cathedral.
Archaeology at Rochester Cathedral
As we have seen, archaeology can be said to have made an accidental and tentative start at the cathedral in 1825 when the tomb of Bishop John of Sheppey was rediscovered. 'Archaeological recording' of sorts got underway 25 years later, when in June 1850 Sir John Scharf (later director of the National Portrait Gallery) made eight fine drawings (now at the Society of Antiquaries of London) of the great west doorway." These supplement a few photographs and are invaluable for telling us what the doorway looked like before the start of J.L Pearson's restoration in 1888.
The first actual archaeological investigation was that undertaken by Arthur Ashpitel (1807-1869) in the crypt in 1853. He made holes in the floor of the crypt 'by means of a boring rod' and discovered a massive wall foundation two bays east of the surviving early Norman two-bay groin vaulted crypt. He was therefore the first to suggest a square east end for the early Norman cathedral. st. John Hope, who was to investigate the same area some thirty years later felt that the 'borings were very unsatisfactory'. Asphitel tried to reconstruct the early Norman cathedral's plan and published his findings the following year." He suggested that Gundulf's tower was the original north transept of this building, and that there had been a large arch in the south side of the lower level of the tower to connect with the church. No evidence, whatsoever, for this arch can be seen, however, and Asphitel's ideas can now be dismissed.
Next on the scene was the ubiquitous Revd. Professor Robert Willis, the greatest of the nineteenth-century cathedral archaeologists. During the summer meeting of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in Rochester in 1863, he gave a lecture tour on the architectural history of the cathedral.
Unfortunately this was not published at the time, but Hope did publish a transcript of part of the lecture in his own architectural history.2 As usual, Willis managed to work out the main structural history of the building and to find some documentary evidence which suggested the dates of completion (roofing and leading) of the new eastern arm. It was Willis who first suggested the actual order of the rebuilding of the cathedral in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries:
) the crypt, presbytery, and eastern transept
) the choir and its aisles
) the north-west transept
) the south-west transept, with the eastern part of the nave.
Sadly none of his own notes and drawings appear to have survived. This is a particular loss because Willis was working in the cathedral before Scott's great restoration. It is also worth recording that during the Institute's summer meeting an area of plaster was stripped, for the members to inspect.29
In 1872 Gilbert Scott's large restoration commenced and we are fortunate that his clerk-of-works from 1872-6 was J.T. Irvine, who was fresh from Scott's restoration work at Wells and Bath and was a keen observer of archaeological details. Irvine's Rochester notes were given to the Dean and Chapter after his death in 1900,3 but it was St. John Hope who first used them, and who corresponded with Irvine in later life. We should also be grateful to Irvine for saving some areas of the building which Scott wanted to rebuild totally. Hope tells us, for example, in relation to the south aisle/cloister wall that:
'The condition of this aisle wall became so threatening in recent years that Sir G. Gilbert Scott advised its rebuilding. But the entreaties of Mr J. T. Irvine, who recognised its great historical value, led to the substitution of a flying buttress, which has successfully met the difficulty."
Among the many discoveries that Irvine made during the restoration work, the following were the most important:
(a.) He observed a Norman clasping pilaster buttress foundation exposed during underpinning work on the south wall of the south transept (1872).
Among the many discoveries that Irvine made during the restoration work, the following were the most important:
(a) He observed a Norman clasping pilaster buttress foundation exposed during underpinning work on the south wall of the south transept (1872).
(b) He drew the section (with layers marked on) of the tunnel (for the organ 'windtrunks') from the crypt to below the pulpitum (1874-5).
(c.) He observed the foundations of the north wall of the nave during underpinning and noticed what may have been foundations for a tower at the western end (1875).
(d.) He recorded pilaster buttresses and a constructional break on the south side of the nave during underpinning. He also observed an earlier transverse wall and apse (and opus signinum flooring), which were perhaps Roman (1875-6). (e.) He recorded the nave arcades during repairs and observed probable early Norman tufa voussoirs (concealed under plaster) on the outer sides (1876).
All of these discoveries were used by Hope who came on the scene a few ears later.
W.H. St. John Hope graduated from Cambridge in 1880 (aged 26), and immediately afterwards was appointed a master at Rochester Grammar School.
From 1881 until his appointment as assistant secretary at the Society of Antiquaries of London four years later, he spent many hours investigating both the fabric and the documentary history of the cathedral and its surrounding buildings. In October/November 1881 he tell us he
'sunk a number of holes in various places in the earthen floor of the undercroft (crypt), and had a trench cut down the centre line. My labours were fully repaid by the finding of the foundations of sundry walls. When carefully measured and plotted, the following facts became evident:-
) That the church terminated, as Mr Asphitel had surmised, in a square end, and not in an apse, built on a foundation eight feet wide.
) The eastern limb had aisles equal in length to the presbytery.
) Beyond the cross-wall was a small rectangular chapel about 6 feet long by 9 feet wide, which it is to be noticed, projects from the middle alley of the central division of the undercroft, and not its whole width.
To make sure I followed the foundations of this chapel all round to their junctions with that of the great wall, with which it is contemporary'" His workmen also found a 'box of bones' in this 'chapel'. Hope marked the outlines of these foundations on a new plan of the crypt, and was soon suggesting a superstructure for it with clasping buttresses at the outer angles.
Since this time, Hope's suggested plan for the eastern termination of Gundulf's cathedral has been accepted almost without question. It might be worth adding that, in the view of the present writer. central chape is still possible. Hope's cathedral has been accepted almost without question. It might be worth adding that, in the view of the present writer, an eastern apse is still possible. Hopes central chapel could have been part of an eastern apse with its curved north and south sides cut away by the massive foundations for the large internal piers of the later crypt. Only a careful modern excavation in the central area of the crypt would provide the answer.
In March 1884 Hope read a paper to the Society of Antiquaries of London on "Gundulf's Tower at Rochester, and the first Norman Cathedral Church there'," In this he communicated the results of his work and then went on to suggest his reconstruction of the 'peculiar' plan of Gundulf's church. This reconstructed plan remained almost unchanged in Hope's mind for the rest of his life, and it was fully published in the 'architectural history' » The second part of Hope's 1884 paper was on Gundulf's tower, and here Hope went a stage further than earlier writers and suggested that it was built before the Norman cathedral, and that it was built 'primarily for defensive purposes'. He does, however, point out "that at a very early period it was used as a bell-tower'. Hope's only apparent reason for making Gundulf the builder of the tower is that it is 'evident enough to anyone who is familiar with his peculiar mode of building' (ie. the use of tufa quoins, etc.). He also says that the tower was erected before Gundulfs cathedral because it blocks two of the four long narrow windows in the ground floor of the tower. In fact, only in the thirteenth-century rebuilding were these windows blocked, and this 'peculiar mode of building' is often found in churches of the late eleventh and the first half of the twelfth century in north. west Kent." Hope also failed to notice that there are a few reused Norman architectural fragments in situ in the south face of the tower. I would suggest, therefore, the 'Gundulf's tower' (the name does not seem to occur before the eighteenth century) was only a bell-tower that was perhaps built in about the second quarter of the twelfth century. As Hope himself pointed out, the mid-twelfth-century Prior Reginald is documented as having 'made two bells and placed them in the greater tower (in majori turri)'. Other bells were also made and placed there in the later twelfth century. The tower, which contains no defensive features, though there may have been a spiral staircase in the northeast corner, is only peculiar because it is so close to the cathedral. This is certainly because space within the Roman walls was very tight at Rochester." The problems of Gundulf's tower and the early plan of the Norman cathedral are two areas of Hope's work that need major reassessment. It should not, however, be forgotten that Hope investigated the whole of the cathedral and its surrounding buildings; in 1884, for example, he dug in the Deanery kitchen yard, and exposed and planned parts of the dorter undercroft. His account of the Benedictine priory buildings is still unsurpassed. He also drew together all the documentary evidence, and all earlier archaeological finds. His two major papers are still immensely valuable and only in recent years have a few new investigations been undertaken.
Hope left Rochester in 1885, and a few years later, in the autumn of 1888, work got underway on the underpinning of the west front. Luckily the precenter a the cathedral at that time (a minor canon) was a man called the Revd. Grevile M. Livett, who was probably the best 'church archaeologist in Kent during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century (he was vicar of Wateringbury for many years and died in 1951, aged 92), though he started his archaeological work with a major monograph on Southwell Minster in 1883.
Livett was able to record not only the remains of the early Norman west wall and doorway of the cathedral (probably Gundulf's work), which lay under the mid-twelfth-century west front, but also the remains of an apse of what was almost certainly one of the buildings, if not the main building itself, of the seventh-century Anglo-Saxon cathedral. This was on a more east-west alignment than the present building, and its apse lay immediately underneath the north-west corner of the Norman nave. A small fragment of north-south wall on the south side, which was also found, may have been part of a porticus. Livett very promothy wrote a full report of his discoveries, and made a fine plan and sections, and they were published the following year." In the summer of 1894, more 'excavation and probing' was done outside the west front of the cathedral, and the west wall of the nave of the Anglo-Saxon church was discovered. The internal dimensions of the nave were found to be 42 feet long by 28 feet wide." In January 1898, further excavations were carried out by the Rochester antiquary, George Payne, and St. John Hope in the garden immediately outside the south-west transept. These exposed part of a long wall, which may have been part of the twelfth-century cellarer's range,* or just possibly an outer court building of the bishop's palace. The excavation was rapidly curtailed by a peremptory order of Dean Hole for the immediate stoppage of the work!" With this work and the publication of Hope's magnum opus on Rochester Cathedral, most archaeological work on the fabric of the cathedral (both below and above ground) effectively came to an end. In this century all archaeological work has been on a very small scale indeed, and sadly quite a lot of it was never properly published. For example, in 1937 the area outside the south aisle of the nave was apparently re-excavated by Farley Cobb, the Cathedral Surveyor, and no trace was found of Irvine's apse of 1872." In the same year the ugly yellow brick canon's house which covered the south-west corner of the cloister was demolished. It had been built in the early nineteenth century. The following year, 1938, saw the large-scale excavation of the area beneath and behind the house. The east side wall of the vaulted undercroft of the cellarer's range was uncovered, and at the south end the last compartment was stripped revealing fine twelfth-century triple stone shafts in each corner. Only a very brief report (and no drawings) was produced.* Earlier, in February 1936, the chapter house doorway was re-opened and the area inside it was excavated. The only report on this work is in The Times of April 1936 where we read:
The earth has been removed from the West end of the Chapter House and at a depth of 3ft. were found fragments of the encaustic tiling of the floor; a few pieces were still in situ, but most of the tiles were broken into fragments.
Pottery and other small matters were also found, and a tiny object, apparently a coin, which has still to be identified. The bases of two piers in line with a fifteenth-century respond in the South wall have also been uncovered and provide evidence of a vaulted vestibule, possibly carrying a bridge, which communicated with the dormitory immediately to the South and with the choir. Some puzzling features, such as the foundations of a wall near the West end of the Chapter house, have appeared, and will perhaps be explained.
It has always been believed that the Priors of the Monastery of St. Andrew had a right of burial within the Chapter House. At a depth of 2ft. 6in. to 3ft. below the paving a skeleton has been discovered, and there is reason to believe that another lies not far off. No vessels were found: the bones were not removed, and were covered up again within half an hour of their being disclosed. There was no sign of a coffin; probably the body was buried in a shroud.'
Ten years after Sir William St. John Hope's death (1919), Dr. F.H. Fairweather published a lengthy article about the plan of Gundulf's cathedral. # In this he criticised Hope's reconstruction of the early Norman plan and put forward his own. Unfortunately Fairweather's suggestions have almost no fabric evidence to support them, and his theory that the early part of the crypt is after Gundulf's time, and relates to a second phase of the Norman church cannot be correct.
The situation is perhaps best summed up by Sir Alfred Clapham, who wrote a few years later:45
'The plan of the early church is at present undetermined, the form suggested by Sir William Hope rests on little or no evidence and is neither reasonable nor probable. Dr. Fairweather has recently shown that a normal plan, similar to the one of Lanfranc's church at Canterbury, is quite a possible layout for the site, but without excavation it is impossible to prove it.
In the last half century or so only a handful of minor excavations and investigations have been carried out. Mr Arthur Harrison and others have undertaken many small scale investigations in Rochester (including some within the cathedral precincts), which have thrown new light on the ancient topography of the city. Only once (in August 1968) has an investigation been carried out inside the cathedral. At this time leger and paving stones were removed from the north side of the crossing area during the installation of a nave altar platform. The cathedral surveyor, Mr Emil Godfrey invited Dr. C.A. Raleigh Radford to investigate, and he published a brief note (but alas no plan) in the Cathedral Friends' Annual report.4 Under the north crossing arch Dr. Radford apparently found parts of the walls of a building which predated the early Norman foundations in this part of the cathedral. However, no detailed investigations were undertaken.
In the last twenty years a few more small scale observations have been made.
These include 'rescue observations in the area outside the south choir aisle door,* the Sacrist's checker area* and, most recently, the chair store foundations on the north side of the nave in May 1990.* Professor M.J. Swanton has also published an important paper on the twelfth-century graffiti in the nave (largely on the piers) which, as he says, almost certainly 'represent the remaining evidence for an extensive programme of early medieval wall. paintings, although little of the original scheme can be reconstructed' 5 In 1987 a reused fragment was removed from the inside of the south-west turret of the cathedral. This proved to be an important fragment of an early eleventh-century gravestone, one side of which has decoration in the 'Ringerike' style. There are also remains of the original colour, and part of a Latin inscription on the edge." At the bottom the spiral turret on the north-east corner of the north-east transept a very fine early door survives, decorated with ironwork. This has recently been studied by Dr. Jane Geddes, who suggests that it dates from the late eleventh or twelfth century. Much later the door was given a new face and turned round, so that the original door is only visible on the inside.52
Tim Tatton-Brown
An earlier version of this essay was first published in T. Tatton-Brown and J. Munby (eds.), The Archaeology of Cathedrals (1996), 103-114, The second part, covering archaeological work at the cathedral in the last decade or so, will be published next year.
J. Thorpe, Registrum Roffense (1769), 958, and M. Brett in N. Yates (ed.) Faith and Fabric, a
History of Rochester Cathedral 604-1994 (1996), 20-22.
3. For the plan of the priory, and its buildings, see W.H. St. John Hope, The architectural history of the cathedral church and monastery of St. Andrew at Rochester Il: the monastery, Arch. Cant. 24 (1900), 1-85. See also T. Tatton-Brown, Three great Benedictine houses in Kent: their buildings and topography, Arch. Cant. 100 (1985), 185-8.
G.M. Livett, 'Medieval Rochester, Arch. Cant. 21 (1895), 17-72.
W.H. St. J. Hope, The architectural history of the cathedral church and monastery of St. Andrew at Rochester I: the cathedral', Arch. Cant. 23 (1898), 194-328.
See notes 3 and 5 above.
For a partial reassessment see now .P. McAleer, The medieval fabric', in N. Yates (ed.), Faith and Fabric, a History of Rochester Cathedral (1996), 149-184.
E. Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent Vol. IV (2nd ed. 1798),
105.
9. Ibid., 102.
10 See F.C. Elliston Erwood, 'Miscellaneous notes on some Kent roads and allied matters, Arch.
Cant. 70 (1956), 209-215. See also H. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 (3rd. ed. 1995), 874.
1. Thorpe, Custumale Roffense (1788), 169. See also Colvin, op. cit. supra, 679.685,
Thorpe, op. cit. supra, 183.
Hasted, op, cit. (note 8), 106.
Hope, op. cit. (note 5), 257 and 264.
See Mary Covert, 'The Cottingham years at Rochester', Friends' Annual Report for 199122, 6
14. For Cottingham generally, see J. Myles, L.N. Cottingham 1787-1847, Architect of the Gothic Revival (1996).
16. Hope, op. cit. (note 5), 285, 17, Ibid.
Colvin, op. cit. (note 10), 129-135.
For drawings of these interesting roofs, see CA., Hewett, English Cathedral and Monaste Carpentry (1985), 79 and 83.
J. Blair, The Limoges enamel tomb of Bishop Walter de Merton, Friends' Annual Resort for
1993-4, 28-33.
Hope, op. cit. (note 5), 280 and 285,
D..H. Cleggett, 'Some 19th century alterations to the presbytery and quire, Friends Annual Report for 1994-5, 4-9.
Hope, op. cit. (note 5), 285.
Ibid. 279
For a very useful summary of documented work, see D. Holbrook, Repair and resioration of the fabric since 1540', in N. Yates (ed.), Faith and Fabric, a History of Rochester Cathedral, 604 1994 (1996), 185-216. A full transcript of all the documents, by Mrs Holbrook, can be consulted in the cathedral library.
D. Kahn, 'The west doorway of Rochester Cathedral in N. Stratford et al. (eds.), Romanesque and Gothic: Essays for George Zarnecki (1987), 129-134.
A. Asphitel, 'Rochester Cathedral', Journ. Brit. Archaeol, Assocn. 9 (1854), 271-285.
Hope, op. cit. (note 5), 233-242. For a contemporary illustration of Professor Willis tour with the Archaeological Institute, see B. Purle, Rochester in Old Photographs (1989), 26.
J.H. Parker. The buildings of Bishop Gundulf, Gentlemen's Magazine 215 (1863), 235-268.
They are now in the Kent Archives Office - Dre/Emf 77 at Strood.
Hope, op. cit. (note 5), 268.
W.H. St John Hope, 'Gundulf's tower at Rochester, and the first Norman cathedral there, Archaeologia 49 (1886), 323-334. See also, A. Arnold, The shrine of St Paulinus at Rochester Friends' Annual Report for 1988-9, 16-21.
Hope, op. cit. supra
Hope, op. cit. (note 5), plate I, opposite p. 202.
See for example, G.M. Livett, 'Early Norman churches in and near the Medway valley-
Arch
Cant 20 (1893), 137-154.
Thorpe, op. cit. (note 2), 118.
T. Tatton-Brown, 'Gundulf's tower, Friends' Annual Report for 1990-1, 7-12 and ider, Observations made in the sacrist's checker area beside Gundulf's tower at Rochester Cathedral July 1989', Arch. Cant. 107 (1990), 390-4.
G.M. Livett, 'Foundations of the Saxon cathedral church at Rochester, Arch. Cant. 21 (1889)
17-72
Hope, op. cit. (note 5), 212.
J.P. McAleer, 'Rochester Cathedral: the west range of the cloister, Friends' Annual Report for
1992-3, 13-25,
Hope, op, cit. (note 5), 212.
E.F, Cobb, 'Explorations on the south side of the nave', Friends' Annual Report 3 (1938), 22-4.
W.A. Forsyth, 'Rochester Cathedral restoration of the Norman cloister' Friends' Annual Report
4 (1939), 20-2,
EH. Faireweather, 'Gundulf's cathedral and priory church of St. Andrew, Rochester: some critical remarks upon the hitherto accepted plan', Archaeol. Journ. 86 (1929), 187-212.
A Clapham, Early Romanesque Architecture after the Conquest (1934), 24.
46, C.A.R. Radford, 'Rochester Cathedral: a new fragment of pre-conquest wall', Friends' Report for
1968, 13-16,
D. Bacchus, 'Rochester Cathedral, south door porch excavations', Arch. Cant. 102 (1985), 254-61.
Tatton-Brown, op, cit. (note 37), See also J.P. McAleer, 'Rochester Cathedral: the north choir aisle and the space between it and 'Gundulf's' tower, Arch. Cant. 112 (1993), 127-165
A. Ward, 'Rochester Cathedral' in Canterbury's Archaeology 1989-90 (Fourteenth Annual Report), 34-5; and Friends' Annual Report for 1990-1, 13-15.
M.). Swanton, 'A mural palimpset from Rochester Cathedral', Archaeol. Journ. 136 (1979), 125.
135,
M. Covert, 'An exciting find', Friends' Annual Report for 1988-9, 10-11.
J. Geddes, 'Some doors in Rochester Cathedral', Friends' Annual Report for 1989-90, 19-22.
M
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.
Piecing together the thousands of architectural components and evidence from excavations and other sources informing the architectural history of the site.
