Rochester Cathedral celebrates 900 years since the creation of its most exceptional treasure

Rochester Cathedral is celebrating 900 years since the creation of the most exceptional item in its collections, Textus Roffensis, ‘the book of Rochester’. Textus 900 is a programme of events and exhibitions taking place over the next 18 months.  The celebrations begin with an exhibition in the Cathedral Crypt, ‘Beauty and the Beasts’. This exhibition explores the medieval priory of Rochester where Textus Roffensis was written and features three significant items loaned from the British Library. Two of the British Library books were once in the priory library and are returning home to Rochester for the first time in nearly 500 years.

 Textus Roffensis is one of the most historically important medieval manuscripts in Britain and was produced in the 1120s by the Benedictine monks of the cathedral priory of St Andrew. The first part of the manuscript is an outstanding compilation of early English laws. This includes the only surviving copy of the law-code of Æthelberht, King of Kent, which was written in Old English around the year 600, making it not only the earliest set of English laws but also the earliest datable work composed in English. The whole compilation of early English laws was recently added to the UNESCO Memory of the World UK Register, a testament to its great significance.

 St Andrew’s Priory was founded in 1083 and was a place of significant learning until the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII. Following the Dissolution, most of the priory library was appropriated and now forms part of the Royal Collection of the British Library. The loans from the British Library mark the first time two of the books have returned to Rochester in nearly 500 years.

 Excitingly, one of the loans is the incredibly beautiful Rochester Bestiary. Produced around 1230, the book provides a visual and textual account of the characteristics and habits of wild beasts and legendary creatures, together with allegorical and moral lessons. It is lavishly illustrated with 55 miniatures in colours and gold. Further images from the book will be displayed throughout the Cathedral allowing visitors to explore this extraordinary manuscript.

 The Rochester Bestiary is joined by two other books. The Rochester Bible, created by the monks around the same time as Textus Roffensis, has within many beautifully decorated display letters that incorporate real and fantastical beasts and also biblical scenes from the Old Testament. The third loan is a manuscript by 18th-century scholar, Elizabeth Elstob. She is celebrated among other works for her beautifully executed copies of parts of Textus Roffensis. Her page of Rochester Cathedral’s foundation charter, featuring a large decorated letter incorporating fantastical beasts, will be on display in the exhibition.

 The three loans will be exhibited at Rochester Cathedral until the end of October. Textus Roffensis itself will return to the exhibition from November and it is hoped more loans from the medieval library will feature in the crypt exhibition from next summer. The exhibition will run until the end of 2024.

 More events celebrating and raising awareness of Textus Roffensis are planned over the next 18 months. Announcements about future events will be made via the Cathedral website and social media channels.

 Beauty and the Beasts closes on the 30th October

Photo copyright - British Library