Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1459 to 1899

Summary from record TQ 76 NW 157 :

Two post medieval houses, formerly the hall range of the palace of the medieval bishops of Rochester. Late medieval, re-ordered in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Monument Types

• GREAT HALL (HOUSE, Medieval to Post Medieval - 1412 AD? to 1700 AD? (between))
• SITE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1459 AD to 1899 AD)
• HOUSE (HOUSE, Post Medieval to Modern - 1700 AD? to 2050 AD (between))
• HOUSE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1700 AD? to 2050 AD (between))

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
ROCHESTER THE PRECINCT TQ 7468 NW and TQ 7468 SW 7/199; 9/199 College Green and Southgate and Garden Wall to front. (formerly listed as House adjacent to Prior ' s Gate House) 24.10.50 II* GV Two houses, formerly the hall range of the palace of the medieval bishops of Rochester. Late medieval (see below), re-ordered in the C18 and C19. Principal range of exposed ragstone and clunch rubble, much patched, with brick parapet; timber-framed wing with some brick cladding, extended in brick, and rendered throughout. Kent tile gable-end roofs. Date: by 1412 the buildings on this site were known collectively as the palace. In 1459 Bishop Lowe signed a document at his 'new palace at Rochester'. Although some of the fabric probably pre-dates (and the roof probably post-dates) 1459, much of the present building doubtless dates from Lowe's rebuilding. Cardinal Fisher's inventory of 1534 indicates a complex building which included a hall range that incorporated a chapel amongst other rooms. The view in Harris' History of Kent (1719) shows a long range with end (not cross) wings. That to the E has gone; the W wing survives. The interior has been radically re-modelled, and both main elevations refenestrated. Plan: the following points also indicate the main surviving medieval features. (1) the main 2½ storeyed range, aligned NW/SE (here called E/W) contained the hall and a fully storeyed end in series to the E (the services with solar or chapel above); the hall may have contained 3 bays, or 2 bays with a higher-end in series. The W wall is original, so if there was a higher-end here it would have been a very short one. In either case the plan as a whole suggests that Bishop Lowe was adapting an older structure. (2) There is a later timber-framed wing to the S of the end bay. Judging by the quality of an in situ wooden door head (depressed arch with decorated spandrels), the wing contained high-status chambers, and is probably C16. (3) The hall was raised over a low basement (the blocked doorway of which is visible to S), and was lit on the S side by 2 large windows, now blocked (the jambs and sills survive), which straddle the line of the inserted floor. (4) The position of the cross-passage is marked by a strainer arch in the S wall. All the above features are contained within Southgate. (5) One blocked lancet set high on the S side may have lit a solar or chapel. (6) The roof (possibly C16) survives intact. Closely related roof types over the higher end and hall (butt purlins, coupled common rafters, 2 large ties and principals with queen struts) and the lower end (common rafters with queen posts to all couples), with a continuous moulded wall plate to both sides extending the entire length of the building. Front (N): Georgianised 6 window range; brick parapet with moulded cornice band and stone coping; 2 large brick ridge stacks above the front doors (that to the right breaks through the truss of the former hall); small 4-light sashes to each floor in line with stacks and doors; otherwise hornless sash windows throughout (8 pane and 12 pane to 2nd floor College Green and Southgate respectively), 16 panes elsewhere, all with exposed frames. Left-hand doorway (College Green) with moulded canopy on brackets, panelled door with top lights; right-hand doorway (Southgate) with pediment and shouldered architrave, panelled door with top lights. Cast-iron rainwater goods, where visible. Wing: tall brick stack at junction with main range. 16-pane sash window to 1st floor. Lean-to side extensions to ground floor, that to the right, with hipped slate roof; 2 tall 15-pane sash windows and a projecting triangular bay, also with sashes, all facing N. Right-hand end (W) with lancet (blocked) to gable wall. Rear elevation (S): scattered fenestration with some sash windows and some small casements. Much of the evidence for the medieval building is contained within the fabric of this elevation. Later brick single-storeyed extension with tall ridge stack and tiled roof. Interior: for medieval features, see above (plan). Some C18 features including a little wall panelling, door furniture, panelled internal shutters, a fireplace with wooden surround, and a wooden arch with side niches. The front garden wall, continuous with that to Prior's Gate House (qv for description), is included in this listing. (Reference 7,9/200).
Listing NGR: TQ7420368497

Description from record TQ 76 NW 157 :
[TQ 74196850] Southgate [NAT] (1)

THE PRECINCT College Green and Southgate and garden wall to front (formerly listed as House adjacent to Prior's Gate House). Two houses, formerly the hall range of the palace of the medieval Bishops of Rochester. Late medieval, re-ordered in eighteenth and nineteeeth centuries. [Full architectural reference]. The front garden wall, continuous with that to Prior's Gate House, is included in this description. LISTED GRADE II* (2)

See [TQ 76 nw 317] for information on a probable stretch of Roman Wall found in the gardens of Southgate, just west of the House.(3).

See also [TQ 76 NW 134] for information on an early Norman building found east and north of Prior's Gate House (adjacent to College Green and Southgate).

<1> OS 1:2500 1970 (OS Card Reference). SKE48212.

<2> DOE(HHR)City of Rochester upon Medway Kent, Dec 2nd 1991 114-115 (OS Card Reference). SKE41281.

<3> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1991, Southgate, The Precincts, Rochester Cathedral (Unpublished document). SKE6731.

Sources and further reading