Rochester

And so what you will see them doing throughout the Peasants' Revolt is gathering this paperwork and burning it.

So between the 6th and 9th of June, they move to Rochester and Rochester Castle is taken.

The constable of Rochester Castle, a man named Sir John Newington, is taken captive.

And they have a bonfire in the middle of Rochester of all of the records that they can find.

in the castle and in lawyers' offices and priories and abbeys throughout Rochester.

They gather it all, lob it all on a big bonfire and burn it.

By the 10th of June, they're also moving through places like Canterbury and doing the same kinds of things as well, burning records.

They begin to converge on Blackheath.

And when they came to Cairnham Down, they chanced to see three or four serving men that were coming from Leeds.

And there with Bradshaw, a spy coming up the hill from Rochester, one black will.

Terrible and cruel ruffian with a sword and buckler and another with a great staff at his neck, unquote.

Here is Green travelling with his neighbour Bradshaw on the road to Gravesend.

This is the second member of his household staff who are now in on the conspiracy and with her help.

the fourth attempt to kill Thomas Arden was conceived, attacking him on the road back through Kent to Faversham.

Quote, And when Master Arden came to Rochester, his man, still fearing that Black Will would kill him with his master, pricked his horse on purpose and made him to halt.

to the end that he might protract the time and tarry behind, unquote.

Under the roof of this old-fashioned house, Dickens passed a night in the autumn of 1841, and the beautiful park of Cobham was at all times one of his favourite resorts.

On the particular occasion just mentioned, he was returning from the annual sojourn which, at that period of his life, he was accustomed to make at Broadstairs, when, meeting his friend Mr. John Forster at Rochester, they passed a pleasant day at Cobham, sleeping at the Leather Bottle.

and on the following night at Gravesend, after another day's rambling in this delightful neighborhood.

It seems probable, though the fact is not mentioned by the novelist's biographer, that they would not be two days in the neighborhood without visiting Swanscombe Wood, where, according to tradition, the men of Kent made such a resolute stand against the troops of William the Conqueror on their march to London after the decisive Battle of Hastings that the victorious Normans granted them the confirmation of their ancient rights and customs.

A green lane intersecting some small hop gardens leads from this part of the wood to the village, which is entered near the picturesque little church, said to be one of the oldest in Kent.

This character applies, however, only to the lower part of the tower and portions of the walls, in which Roman bricks are mingled with masonry of Saxon origin.

Four years later than the occasion to which reference has been made, Dickens drove to Cobham from Rochester, accompanied by his wife and her sister and his friends Maclees, Gerald, and Forster.

They visited the church, where there is an ancient wooden screen, an old round font, and several memorial brasses of the Cobhams, and afterwards strolled through the park.

That resistance highlights an early tension between Rome and the British episcopate, a conflict that would echo through later centuries when local churches struggled with external influence.

In spite of those objections, Augustine managed to establish two key dioceses, London in 601 and Rochester around 604, expanding Roman ecclesiastical architecture beyond Kent’s borders.

These foundations laid the groundwork for an organized clergy.

Bede would later describe the growth of bishops trained in Rome who would evangelize more kingdoms such as Essex, East Anglia, and eventually Northumbria.

And the Church is saying, you know, "You need to pray more.

You need to live better lives." There are sermons that are preached in, I think it's the Bishop of Rochester, who's telling everyone that their shirts are too tight and their skirts are too short, and-

[laughs]

... that's why they're all getting the Black Death.

We don't know.

We have nothing to, to pin on this guy whatsoever.

What we know is that by the 10th of June, um, so a few days before this, the, the rebels have been in Rochester.

They've captured Rochester Castle.

Sort of take it for granted now, just gigabytes in seconds, isn't it? But there it is.

It's a 2,400 or 1,200 bulletin board at the Hotel BBS in Rochester, Kent.

It's going to come in at 80 quid an

hour.

In five hours he accomplished the journey from London to Bavisham.

So rapidly had the reports been circulated of supposed ravages of the Irish Papists, that when the Earl reached Rochester, the entire town was in a state of panic, and the alarmed inhabitants were busily engaged in demolishing the bridge to prevent the dreaded incursion.

but to return to james at feversham the mariners who had handled him so roughly now took his part in addition to his property and insisted upon sleeping in the adjoining room to that in which he was incarcerated to protect him from further harm early on saturday morning the earl of feversham made his appearance and after some little hesitation on the king's side he was at length persuaded to return to london so he set out on horseback breaking the journey at rochester where he slept on the saturday night at sir richard head's house on the sunday he rode on to dartford where he took coach to southwark and whitehall a temporary reaction had now set in and the cordial reception which greeted his appearance revived his hopes and spirits this reaction however was but short-lived for no sooner had the poor king retired to the privacy of his bed-chamber at whitehall palace than an imperious message from his son-in-law ordered him to remove without delay the ham house petersham James objected strongly to this.

The place, he said, was damp and unfurnished, which, by the way, was not the case, if we may judge from Evelyn, who visited the mansion not long before, when it was furnished like a great princess.

Indeed, the same furniture remains intact to this day.

And a message was sent back that if he must quit Whitehall, he would prefer to retire to Rochester, which was readily accorded him.

CHAPTER IX.

chapter x james the second escapes continued ham house and abdication house tradition regardless of fact associates the grand old seat of the lauderdales and dysarts with king james's escape from england a certain secret staircase is still pointed out by which the dethroned monarch is said to have made his exit and visitors to the stuart exhibition a few years ago will remember a sword which with the king's hat and cloak is said to have been left behind when he quitted the mansion now there existed not many miles away also close to the river thames another ham house which was closely associated with james the second and it seems therefore possible in fact probable that the past associations of the one house have attached themselves to the other In Ham House, Weybridge, lived for some years the king's discarded mistress, Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester.