Rochester - Cathedral Surroundings

A Benedictine monastery was also founded with Rochester's cathedral. Three of the four original entrance gates have survived (all of them 15th century): leading on to the High Street is Chertsey's Gate (as the "Gatehouse" the home of John Jasper in Dickens' "Edwin Drood"); to the right and directly by the cathedral, Deanery Gate, which was used by pilgrims as a shrine for St William; on the south side Prior's Gate, which is extremely well preserved. Also on the south side is Cloister Garth, on the site of the monastery, and Minor Canon Row, a highly attractive row of houses dating from 1723, also immortalized by Dickens in "Edwin Drood".