Rochester, Kent

Remains from the Neolithic Age have been found in the vicinity of Rochester; over time, it has been variously occupied by Celts, Romans, Jutes and/or Saxons. During the Celtic Period, it was one of the two administrative centres of the Cantiaci tribe. During the Roman conquest of Britain, a decisive battle was fought at the Medway somewhere near Rochester. The first bridge was subsequently constructed early in the Roman period. During the later Roman Period, the settlement was walled in stone. King Æthelberht of Kent (560–616) established a legal system which has been preserved in the 12th-century Textus Roffensis. In AD 604, the bishopric and Rochester Cathedral were founded. During this…

Rochester comprises numerous important historic buildings, the most prominent of which are the Guildhall, the Corn Exchange, Restoration House, Eastgate House, as well as Rochester Castle and Rochester Cathedral. Many of the town centre's old buildings date from as early as the 14th century up to the 18th century. The chapel of St Bartholomew's Hospital dates from the ancient priory hospital's foundation in 1078. In the 21st century the Riverside area north of the railway line, Rochester Riverside, has been redeveloped to provide new housing and a primary school.

There is a small amateur theatre, Medway Little Theatre, on St Margaret's Banks, Rochester High Street (the part of the High Street that continues from Star Hill towards Chatham) and just opposite the former railway station. Converted from a building which in its almost 200-year history had been, amongst other things, a wine merchants, warehouse and printing works the theatre's first season was in 1958. Since then hundreds of plays have been presented ranging from Shakespeare to Ayckbourn, modern classics to timeless farces along with many plays presented for the first time in the Medway Towns and, indeed, Kent. Medway Little Theatre also has a thriving youth company and a children's…