ROCHESTER. 
156 
installed by St. Augustine, the apostle of Britain, and first 
archbishop of Canterbury, in the year C04, from which period 
the episcopal dignity of Rochester has been held in succes¬ 
sion by ninety-four bishops, many of whom were eminent for 
their talents, piety, benevolence, and extensive acquirements. 
Paulinus, the third bishop, w’as reputed a saint, and his me¬ 
mory was held in high estimation during several centuries. 
Ithamar, the fourth bishop, was the first Englishman who 
held a prelacy in Britain. Tobias, the ninth bishop, is 
highly extolled by Bede and other writers, for his literary at¬ 
tainments, and particularly for his intimate knowledge of the 
Greek, Latin, and Saxon languages. These three prelates 
were all interred in the ancient cathedral, and are the only 
bishops known to have been so honoured of all the twenty - 
five who presided previous to the conquest. At the era of 
that event, the see appears to have been fast verging to entire 
dissolution , but its impending fate was soon after arrested by 
Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, who raised Ernost, a 
monk of Bee, in Normandy, to the bishopric, for the avowed 
purpose of improving its affairs. That bishop, however, died 
in the first year of his prelacy, and was succeeded by Gun- 
dulph, another monk of Bee, who proved a most active agent 
in the re-establishment of the see. He not only recovered the 
alienated estates of the bishopric, but, pulling down the old 
cathedral, he erected a spacious and magnificent edifice in its 
stead. He likewise rebuilt the priory, and placed therein 
twenty monks of the order of St. Benedict, upon whom he 
bestowed extensive privileges and possessions. Gundulph 
had for his successor Ernulph, abbot of Peterborough ; who 
composed the “ Textus Roffensis,” a work replete with infor¬ 
mation on matters of antiquity. He was likewise distinguish¬ 
ed as an architect, having, besides his works at Canterbury 
and Peterborough, built the dormitory, and refectory, and the 
chapter-house at Rochester. He was succeeded by John, 
archdeacon of Canterbury, in whose time the monastery was 
unfortunately destroyed by fire; an event which occasioned 
the temporary dispersion of the monks. On the re-erection 
of the priory, however, they were again collected, and, 
through the exertions of bishop Ascelen, recovered such of 
their possessions as had been alienated by the cupidity of his 
predecessor, John, a Norman bishop, who had obtained this 
see on the death of his namesake above-mentioned. Asce- 
len’s successor was Walter, brother to Theobald, archbishop 
of Canterbury, who was elected by the monks of Rochester. 
This bishop assisted at the coronation of Henry, eldest son 
of Henry III., on which account he was excommunicated by 
Thomas 4 Becket. During his prelacy, the cathedral sus¬ 
tained heavy damages by fire. This bishop died in 1182, 
and was succeeded by bishop Waleran, who, as well as his 
successor, Gilbert de Granville, was constantly engaged in 
litigations with the prior and monks, which w'ere at length 
.settled by solemn adjudication in the year 1207: notwith¬ 
standing this, how'ever, the monks thought proper to display 
their hatred to bishop Granville, by refusing burial to his re¬ 
mains in the cathedral ; and on being frustrated in their re- 
sistance, they hastened the interment, that it might take place 
before the interdict, which the nation then lay under, was re¬ 
moved. This prelate rebuilt the bishop’s palace, which had 
been burnt down by the fire above noticed; and also erected 
a cloister of stone for the monks: but the re-edification of the 
cathedral made very slow progress, as we find it remained un¬ 
finished till the year 1240, when Richard de Wendover held 
the bishopric. He had been elected to the see, by the monks, 
in opposition to the claims of patronage maintained by Ed¬ 
mund, archbishop of Canterbury, who appealed on the subject 
to the court of Rome, but without success. On his death, in 
1250, Laurence de St. Martin was advanced to the episcopal 
dignity, and held it till 1274, w'hen he died, and gave place to 
Walter de Merton, to whom his country is indebted for the 
foundation of Merton college, at Oxford, which is considered 
to be the“ first literary community in this kingdom that had 
the sanction of a royal charter.” His immediate successors 
were, John de Bradfield, who died in 1283 ; Thomas de In- 
gelthorpe, who died in 1291; and Thomas de Woldham, 
who died in 1316. On the decease of the latter, Hamo de Hethe 
obtained the bishopric. He was a very active prelate, and 
conferred considerable benefits on the priory and the church. 
His successor was John de Shepey, who had been a monk in 
the priory, and was a man of great learning and abilities. 
Some sermons attributed to him are still extant in New Col¬ 
lege, Oxford, and there are in the king's library two MSS. of 
his on legal subjects. He died in 1360, when William Wit- 
tesley was consecrated bishop, but was soon afterwards trans¬ 
lated to the see of Worcester. Thomas Trilleck next obtain¬ 
ed the bishopric, and after him Thomas Brinton, confessor to 
king Richard II. and the fifty-first bishop of this see. Rich¬ 
ard Young, the third in succession after him, met with great 
difficulties in obtaining possession of his bishopric, owing to 
the death, first of pope Boniface, by whose mandate he was 
translated from Bangor, and afterwards of his successor, pope 
Innocent. At length, however, he was installed, in May, 
1407, and held the see till 1418, when he was removed by 
death, and was succeeded by John Kemp, who subsequently 
became bishop of Chichester and of London, and archbishop 
of York and of Canterbury. His successor was the learned 
John Langdon, who was distinguished for his extensive 
knowledge of history and antiquities, and was author of a 
chronicle of England. On his death, which happened in 
1434, while he was attending the council at Basil on the part 
of Henry VI., Thomas Brown, D. D. was elected to the va¬ 
cant see. John Lowe, the fifty-ninth bishop, tvas provin¬ 
cial of the order of Augustine friars. He held the bishopric 
twenty-three years, and is supposed to have rebuilt the pa¬ 
lace at Rochester. He died in 1467, and was succeeded by 
Thomas de Rotherham, subsequently bishop of Lincoln, 
lord chancellor, and archbishop of York. The next bishop 
of note, was the unfortunate John Fisher, who was beheaded 
in 1535, by order of Henry VIII. for maintaining the 
supremacy of the pope in ecclesiastical affairs. His successor 
was John Hilsey, D. D., a controversial writer of considerable 
eminence, who died in 1538. Two years afterwards, the 
priory here was surrendered to the king; and in 1542, a new 
foundation charter was granted, by which a collegiate body 
was established in the church, to consist of a “ dean, six pre¬ 
bendaries, six minor canons, a deacon and sub-deacon, six 
lay clerks, a master of the choristers, eight choristers, one 
grammar master, twenty scholars, two sub-sacrists, and six 
poor bedesmen,” besides inferior officers. In the new estab¬ 
lishment, Walter Phillips, the prior of the late convent, was 
made first dean of the cathedral; and Nicholas Heath, D. D. 
was the first reformed bishop of the see. From his time to 
the present period, twenty-five bishops have been advanced 
to the episcopal dignity of Rochester, among whom the 
most noted were the pious Ridley, who suffered along with 
bishop Latimer at Oxford; Francis Atterbury, who was 
exiled for treasonable correspondence in 1723; and the late 
bishop Horsley, one of the most erudite divines the church of 
England can boast of. 
The situation of Rochester cathedral is at a short distance 
south from the High-street, and east from the castle. It is 
of a cruciform shape, and is divided into a nave, aisles, two 
transepts, and a choir, with a low tower and spire rising at 
the intersection of the nave and great transept. This edifice 
evidently appears, from the different styles, of its architec¬ 
ture, to have been the work of different eras. The chief 
part of the nave and west front display the massive character 
of the early Norman age. The west entrance is particu¬ 
larly deserving of attention, and must have been, when en¬ 
tire, a most magnificent piece of workmanship. The arch 
which forms this entrance is semi-circular; and is sup¬ 
ported on each side by several columns, two of which are 
cut into statues, representing king Henry I. and his queen 
Matilda, the patrons of the founder bishop Gundulph. 
The capitals of all the columns are composed of wreathed 
foliage, mixed with the heads of birds, and other animals. 
The lintel of the door, immediately under the arch, exhibits 
a figure, probably designed to represent the Saviour, 
attended by angels, and the attributes of the four evan¬ 
gelists. The mouldings of the arch, and the transom- 
stone, are charged with varied sculpture. The remaining 
parts 
