Sarum Missal, 16th century

Sarum Missal, 16th century

Chapter Library volunteer Beverley Jacobs leafs through the 16th-century Sarum Missal, a remnant from the final days of the Priory Library.

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The Rochester Bible, c.1125-1140

The Rochester Bible, c.1125-1140

The Rochester Bible is a richly decorated manuscript produced by the monks of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester. Now part of the British Library’s Royal Collection, the manuscript is on loan to Rochester Cathedral and features in the Beauty and the Beasts exhibition in the Cathedral Crypt.

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Bede, Opera (volume 2), with manuscript leaves, 1521

Bede, Opera (volume 2), with manuscript leaves, 1521

Dr Christopher Monk leaves through a volume of Bede’s second opera in the Chapter Library collection featuring two medieval manuscript paste-downs.

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Psalter and kalendar fragments, circa 1450

Psalter and kalendar fragments, circa 1450

The fragments in this beautiful volume have been rebound and were presented to the Cathedral in 1921 as there are references to early Bishops and saints of Rochester Paulinus and Ithamar, as well as Bishop Romanus.

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Manuscript facsimile project

Manuscript facsimile project

Sarah Taylor has been working over the lockdown months to digitise the collection of handwritten medieval volumes in the Chapter Library.

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Concerning the Harmony of the Gospels by St Augustine of Hippo, c. 1103

Concerning the Harmony of the Gospels by St Augustine of Hippo, c. 1103

Beverley Jacobs leafs through the oldest volume in the Chapter Library dating to circa 1100 AD.

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Custumale Roffense, c.1235

Custumale Roffense, c.1235

Dr Christopher Monk introduces the ‘Custumal of Rochester’, a thirteenth-century customs book from the Cathedral Priory of St Andrew full of vivid details not just of the lives of the monks but also offering valuable insight into the servants of the priory.

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Book of Hours: a day in the life

Book of Hours: a day in the life

Dr Jayne Wackett explores the tiny fifteenth-century Book of Hours.

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