Rochester - Cathedral

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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.