St Andrews Cathedral Priory, Rochester (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Priors Gate

In the civil parish of Rochester.
In the historic county of Kent.
Modern Authority of Medway.
1974 county of Kent.
Medieval County of Kent.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ74216847
Latitude 51.38846° Longitude 0.50289°

St Andrews Cathedral Priory, Rochester has been described as a certain Palace, and also as a probable Fortified Ecclesiastical site.

There are major building remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

The Cathedral Priory was close to but distinct from the Bishop's Palace. The prior obtain a complex licence, in 1344, to to fill in the existing ditch, to make profit, providing the priory built a wall and ditch on its own land. In 1345 a licence to crenellate was granted for the building of a wall. There does not seem to be any remains of this wall and very little remains of the priory buildings other than the Cathedral itself. However the South gatehouse, called the Priors Gate does survive. The priory was retained for the use of Henry VIII after it's suppression in 1540, and considerable building work was done.

Priors Gate–S gate into the cathedral and priory precincts. Probably 1344 when this stretch of wall was built. Random rubble ragstone. 2 storeys with NW stair turret; parapet with moulded string course, much eroded. Arches of 2 orders, the lower order 4- centred, the upper (with hood mould) segmental, the jambs chamfered with pyramid stops. Vault, the ribs with chamfer and roll moulding; eroded corbels. Original cusped lancet to S; renewed 2-light Decorated window to N. Doorway to turret which rises well above gateway parapet. (Listing Report)

It has been incorrectly suggested that a Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1344 April 22 (Click on the date for details of this supposed licence.).
A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1345 Aug 5.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1003405, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number me294
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1086428
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 416281.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) TQ 76 NW 539; MKE29931; TQ 76 NW 97 (cathedral).

Books
- Thurley, Simon, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (Yale University Press) p. 50, 56-7, 115-118, 163
  Page, Wm (ed), 1926, 'Houses of Benedictine monks: The cathedral priory of St Andrew, Rochester' VCH Kent Vol. 2 p. 121-26 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 414 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Coulson, Charles, 2007-8, 'On Crenellating, in Kent and Beyond - A Retrospection' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 21 p. 189-201 esp p. 196
  Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 26 p. 69-100 see online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1902, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1343-45) Vol. 6 p. 262 online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1902, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1343-45) Vol. 6 p. 539 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 59 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 South East (London: English Heritage) p. 62 online copy
  Kent County Council, December 2004, Kent Historic Towns Survey (Kent County Council and English Heritage) view online copy
  Thurley, Simon, 1991, English Royal Palaces, 1450-1550 (unpub PhD thesis; London) p. 212-3 (available via EThOS)

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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