In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Rochester like this:
Rochester.-- city, parl. and mun. bor., par., river port and market town, Kent, on river Medway, on W. side of Chatham, and 30 miles SE. of London by rail - par., 2620 ac., pop. 13,890; bor. (extending into the pars. of Chatham, Frindsbury, Strood, and Wouldham), 2909 ac. and 11,768 tidal water and foreshore (being the whole of the river Medway from Hawk Wood, in the par. ...
of Burnham, to Sheerness), pop. 21,307; 2 Banks, 1 newspaper. Market-day, Friday. Communication between Rochester and Strood is maintained by means of an iron swing bridge. Rochester was a place of great importance to Britons, Romans, and Saxons. The see was founded by Ethelbert, who, about 604, commenced the cathedral. The castle was built in the reign of the Conqueror; the keep still remains, situated on an abrupt eminence, surrounded by public gardens. Rochester has a large implement manufactory, some fisheries, especially of oysters, some shipbuilding, and trade in coal. (For shipping statistics, see Appendix.) Many of the inhabitants are employed in the dockyards of Chatham. Rochester was made a mun. bor. by Henry II., and a parl. bor. by Edward I. It returns 1 member to Parliament; it returned 2 members until 1885.
Rochester through time
Rochester is now part of Medway district. Click here for graphs and data of how Medway has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Rochester itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Rochester, in Medway and Kent | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/17
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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