KAS 27/09/2023 KAS 27/09/2023

Sarum Missal, 16th century

Rochester Cathedral Chapter Library volunteer Beverley Jacobs leafs through the 16th-century Sarum Missal, a remnant from the final days of the Priory Library.

Dr Christopher Monk 01/07/2023 Dr Christopher Monk 01/07/2023

Elizabeth Elstob’s excerpts from Textus Roffensis 1712

Elizabeth Elstob made a facsimile of Textus Roffensis (c.1123), in two parts. Here, Dr Christopher Monk explores her handwritten copies of the three Old English Kentish law codes, unique to Textus, and her copy of the foundation charter of Rochester Cathedral with its marvellous decorated initial.

Jacob Scott 15/05/2023 Jacob Scott 15/05/2023

High Treason and A Wicked Contrivance?

Rochester Cathedral Chapter Library volunteer Myra Amor explores the stories of three successive bishops of Rochester each accused of treason.

KAS 10/03/2023 KAS 10/03/2023

Mary Elizabeth and John Griffith, Canon of Rochester 1827-1879

T. H. James introduces Rev. Dr John Griffith and his wife Mary Elizabeth Griffith, benefactors to the Cathedral in the 19th century.

KAS 28/01/2023 KAS 28/01/2023

Sarah Baker and her Kentish Theatres, 1737-1816

A brief outline by Dr Jean Baker of the life and times of a remarkable but little-known woman (not an ancestor of hers) who played a significant role in the political, social and cultural evolution of Kent’s rapidly growing towns at the end of the eighteenth century.

Jacob Scott 07/11/2022 Jacob Scott 07/11/2022

Charlotte Boyd (1837-1906)

Revd. Lindsay Llewellyn-MacDuff, author of Bertha's Daughters: A History of the Church in Kent, explores the life and work of Charlotte Boyd, one of the greatest benefactors to the Diocese of Rochester in modern times.

Jacob Scott 04/10/2022 Jacob Scott 04/10/2022

John Speed's atlas, 1676

Library volunteer Myra Amor introduces John Speed and his Theatre of the empire of Great-Britain and A prospect of the most famous parts of the World published in 1676.

Jacob Scott 02/09/2022 Jacob Scott 02/09/2022

Baptisms, marriages and burial registers of Rochester Cathedral

Facsimile and transcriptions of the baptism, marriage and burial registers of Rochester Cathedral.

Jacob Scott 13/03/2022 Jacob Scott 13/03/2022

The Last Stand of Lieutenant Henn and his Sappers

The story behind the names of the ‘Native Sappers and Miners’ commemorated in the 1888 Royal Engineers memorial mosaic at the west end of the Nave of Rochester Cathedral.

KAS 10/10/2021 KAS 10/10/2021

Isabella Gilmore and the deaconess movement

Bishop of Rochester’s Chaplain Lindsay Llewellyn-MacDuff discusses the life and work of Isabella Gilmore and the genesis of the Deaconess Movement in the early 19th century.

Jacob Scott 08/10/2021 Jacob Scott 08/10/2021

Dean Reynolds Hole (1819-1904)

Dean of Rochester Philip Hesketh introduces the life and work of Samuel Reynolds Hole, Dean of Rochester 1887–1904, a celebrated gardener notable for his expertise with roses. First of a two-part series.