The building of the present Rochester Cathedral was begun around 1180 by the Norman Bishop Gundulf, who also built the White Tower in London. It was erected on the foundations of the first episcopal church which had been built under Ethelbert. Gundulf's Tower, on the north side of the cathedral, and the crypt are the two features which survive from this early stage of building.
After the consecration of the church in 1130 further building went on until the end of the 13th century, including the addition of the nave and transepts. The central tower was completed in 1343 and in the 16th century the southwest transept was extended. The most impressive part of the building is the west front, which was finished in 1160. Flanked by two towers and crowned by a late Perpendicular eight-sectioned window, the Norman doorway has two columns on either side, each consisting of a statue: one of King Solomon and the other of the Queen of Sheba.
It is the only example in England of a doorway being built employing this device, which was so characteristic of French ecclesiastical architecture of this period. Above the doorway in the tympanum Christ as the ruler of the world is depicted.
The groundplan of the original Anglo-Saxon church is discernible in the front part of the north aisle; in the south aisle lies the 18th century marble tombstone of Lady Ann Henniker, which was designed by Thomas Banks. In the south transept there is a memorial plaque to Charles Dickens and the tomb of Sir Richard Watts. The choir stalls include some of the oldest in England, dating back to 1227. Of special importance in the choir is the fragment of a 13th century fresco on the northeast pillar, which depicts the "wheel of fortune". The two choir side aisles contain the tombstones of Bishop Hamo de Hythe (d. 1352) and Bishop John de Bradfield (d. 1283). At the north end of the east transept is the tomb of Bishop Walter de Merton. It stands on the site of the tomb of St William of Perth, a Scottish baker, who was murdered here in 1201 while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Magical powers were imputed to his tomb and it developed into a place of pilgrimage. The door of the chapterhouse (14th century) is another fine feature, with its pictures of a church and a synagogue, and of the four Fathers of the Church and the soul of the church's founder, Bishop Hymo de Hythe. Finally, it is possible to descend into the crypt, a major piece of architecture in the Early English style and one of the largest in the country.
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View of Rochester cathedral from the castle window.
