Explore the Diocese of Rochester
Rochester Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Rochester, their histories stretching back to 604 AD. The heritage of the Diocese and its people is reflected in the Cathedral, its archives and collections.
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The EXPLORE pages link to the history and archaeology of the Cathedral, the medieval City and the Diocese of Rochester, and explore the heritage of the Cathedral collections from around the world.
Medieval history
Some of our best evidence for the development of the Diocese in the Middle Ages is the Cathedral’s exceptional Textus Roffensis dating to c. 1123 and the extensive Custumale Roffense of c. 1235.
Malling Abbey
In many ways the sister of the Priory of Saint Andrew at Rochester, West Malling Abbey was likewise dissolved at the Reformation, although was reopened at the beginning of the twentieth century and is now a living Benedictine community once again.
Early Modern histories
The Early Modern period into the twentieth century often saw events in the Diocese, the careers of its bishops, and an industrialised Kent take a global stage at the height of the British Empire.
DiocesE of Rochester
The Church of England in the areas of Medway, north and west Kent and the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley.
Church of England
Anglicans trace their Christian roots back to the early Church, and their specifically Anglican identity to the post-Reformation expansion of the Church of England and other Episcopal or Anglican Churches.
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