ROCHESTER, an ancient city in the county of Kent, thirty miles from London. It is commonly supposed to have been founded by the ancient Britons. In the time of the Romans it was one of their military stations, but did not attain any great celebrity until more than a century after the arrival of the Saxons, who in the reign of King Ethelbert, constituted it the seat of a bishop, and it was considered as a most important military station. By the Britons it was known under the name of Dourbrys; tile Romans called it Durohrivoe, which the Saxons changed to Roflcaster, from which its present name has been derived. It is situated on the river Medway, a stream which, rising in the centre of Kent, becomes navigable at Maidstone, and increases, till, near Rochester, it is affected by the tides, which reach it from the Thames at the Nore. At Rochester is the first bridge over that fine stream. This bridge, built in the reign of King John, with the exception of the bridges in London, was long deemed superior to any other in the kingdom in height, strength, and elegance. It consists of eleven arches, three of which have been rebuilt, and the whole, by modern improvement, widened and beautified, and ornamented with balustrades, panels, and bold copings.
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The largest arch is forty feet span, and the others thirty feet. The length is 560 feet, and the breadth twenty-four feet between the parapets. The river Medway is capable of receiving the largest vessels up to Rochester, but few are moored off the city, as Chatham, a mile lower down the river, is more convenient from the vicinity to the naval arsenal and the docks.

The ancient castle is an interesting object to all antiquaries. It stands on the south-west side of the city, on such an elevated spot that it can be seen at thirty miles distance. The streets of this city have no peculiar feature, except the narrowness and length; for in fact it consists chiefly of a single street, which is a continuation of Stroud towards the west and of Chatham towards the east, forming two rows of moderate houses, more than two miles from one end to the other, with a few short streets or lanes leading from them southward. With the exception of the cathedral, hereafter to be noticed, the town-hall is the most remarkable edifice: it was built in 1687. It is a handsome structure, with a spacious entrance-hall and staircase, the ceilings of both which are very curiously ornamented. Here the city business is transacted; and at the back part is the city jail. There is a free school, several charitable institutions, a customhouse, and a market-house. The diocese of Rochester is the smallest in the kingdom. It had a cathedral as early as the year 600, which was destroyed by Ethelbert, king of Mercia, in 676; and a few years after the city suffered much by the incursions of the Danes, but appears to have recovered some degree of respectability by the accession of King Athelstan, who appointed masters of the mint to superintend the coinage of money. The cathedral had been dilapidated at the Norman conquest; but Gundulph, who was removed from Normandy to fill the see, acquired money sufficient to rebuild the sacred edifice, though he died in 1094, before it was finished. Like most of the more ancient ecclesiastical erections, its plan is an improvement on the basilica of Rome, and it is built in the form of the cross of Christ, with a massive square tower at the point of intersection. The interior space to the west of the cross was the nave or body of the church, which represented the ship of St Peter: this part is more ancient than the nave of any other cathedral in the kingdom, and still retains most of the peculiar features of the style in which it was originally built, and is indeed one of the most interesting specimens of Norman architecture. The whole length of this nave is a hundred and fifty feet, and its breadth between the pillars thirty-three feet, and from one wall to the other seventy-five feet. The choir has an ascent of ten steps, and is a hundred and fifty-six feet in length. The western front of the cathedral, one of the most perfect specimens of Anglo-Norman architecture, was constructed with consummate ability at a period when the art had arrived at a high point of perfection. The centre door is formed of a semicircular arch, composed of rich mouldings, and is supported by four pillars, with capitals of wreathed foliage. Two of these pillars take the form of Caryatides, and present statues of King Henry I. and his queen Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm III. king of Scotland, being undoubtedly two of the most ancient statues remaining in England. This building presents many other objects of very high interest to the student and the admirer of ancient architecture. The cathedral contains but few monuments, and none with any striking peculiarity.

Rochester is not a place of much trade, except what arises from the great number of travellers passing through it in their way by Dover to and from the continent. The chief occupation is a considerable oyster-fishery, from beds in the river Medway, which river is under the concurrent jurisdiction of its own corporate body, and that of the lord-mayor and aldermen of London. The latter body make periodical visits of conservancy by water, and on such occasions the two corporations indulge together in sumptuous festivity. For municipal purposes, the city is divided into three wards, and is governed by a mayor, six aldermen, and seventeen councillors. The recorder and justices of the peace are appointed by the crown. The city returns two members to parliament. There is a well-supplied market on Fridays, and several annual fairs. The population amounted in 1821 to 8795, and in 1831 to 9811.