| Rochester Guildhall | |
|---|---|
 The Guildhall | |
| Location | High Street, Rochester |
| Coordinates | 51°23′27″N0°30′10″E / 51.3909°N 0.5028°E |
| OS grid reference | TQ4849781080 |
| Built | 1697 |
| Owner | Medway Council |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Designated | 24 October 1950 |
| Reference no. | 1186145 |
  Location of Rochester Guildhall in Kent | |
The Rochester Guildhall is an historic building located in the High Street in Rochester, Kent, England. It is a Grade I listed building. [1]
The first guildhall in Rochester was located further south along the High Street on a site where the Clock House is now situated. [2]
The current building, the second guildhall, was constructed in 1697. [1] The design for the main frontage involved four bays: the ground floor was left open, apart from some paired Tuscan order columns, to allow markets to be held; the first floor was designed with four windows with white plaques in the middle commemorating the completion of the building in 1697 and also the financial contribution made by Sir Stafford Fairborne. [1] At roof level a large round-headed pediment was erected above which was a bell-turret was placed. [1] A weather vane in the form of an 18th-century warship was added in 1780. [3] Wings were added on the right in 1838 and on the left in 1893. [1]
Internally, the principal room was the courtroom which, in time, was also used as a council chamber. The magistrates' bench was curved so that attention was focussed on all the members of the bench and not just the chief magistrate. [4] Both the council chamber and the staircase have magnificent plaster ceilings, which were given in 1695 by Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, who was the Member of Parliament for the City of Rochester at the time. [1] The council chamber featured in the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in 1861. [5] In the 1930s, in anticipation of the Second World War, a civil defence headquarters was established in the basement of the building. [6]
For much of the 20th century, the council chamber was the meeting place of the City of Rochester [7] but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Borough of Medway was formed in 1974. [8] The guildhall became the home of the Guildhall Museum in 1979. [9]
The museum was originally established at Eastgate House, further south along the High Street, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. [10] [11] The collection includes artefacts associated with Rochester from prehistoric times to the present day. [10] Works of art in the museum include a painting by Hendrik Frans van Lint depicting a classical Italian landscape, [12] a portrait of Sir Cloudesley Shovell by Michael Dahl [13] and a portrait of Sir Stafford Fairborne by Godfrey Kneller. [14]
Kent is a county in the South East England region, the closest county to continental Europe. It borders Essex across the entire estuary of the River Thames to the north; the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover to the south-east; East Sussex to the south-west; Surrey to the west and Greater London to the north-west. The county town is Maidstone.
Chatham is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham.
Rochester is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about 30 miles (50 km) from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillingham. Rochester was a city until losing its status as one in 1998 following the forming of Medway and failing to protect its status as a city. There have been ongoing campaigns to reinstate the city status for Rochester.
Medway is borough and unitary authority area in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998, when the boroughs of Rochester-upon-Medway and Gillingham were merged to form Medway Towns. The borough is governed by Medway Council, a unitary authority which is independent of Kent County Council, but remains part of the ceremonial county of Kent.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and then at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain he fought at the Battle of Bantry Bay during the Williamite War in Ireland.
Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham and Rainham. It lies on the northwest bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Norris was a Royal Navy officer and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer during the Nine Years' War and the Williamite War in Ireland, he was given command of a squadron sent to North America to protect British settlements on the banks of Hudson Bay in 1697. Although he developed a plan to recapture some territories in Newfoundland and Labrador taken by French forces the previous winter, he was prevented from implementing that plan when the local council overruled him.
Association was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1697. She served with distinction at the capture of Gibraltar, and was lost in 1707 by grounding on the Isles of Scilly in the greatest maritime disaster of the age. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.
The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary and River Medway. In due course the Commander-in-Chief became responsible for sub-commands at Chatham, London, Sheerness, Harwich and the Humber.
Events from the year 1707 in Great Britain, created on 1 May this year as a consequence of the 1706 Treaty of Union and its ratification by the 1707 Acts of Union.
HMS Eagle was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard during 1677/79. When completed she was placed in Ordinary for 10 years. She was in active commission during the War of the English Succession partaking in the Battle of Barfleur. She was rebuilt in 1699 at Chatham. She again played an active role in the early part of the War of Spanish Succession participating in the Capture of Gibraltar, and the Battle of Velez Malaga. She was wrecked in the Isles of Scilly in October 1707.
The Scilly naval disaster of 1707 was the loss of four warships of a Royal Navy fleet off the Isles of Scilly in severe weather on 22 October 1707. Between 1,400 and 2,000 sailors lost their lives aboard the wrecked vessels, making the incident one of the worst maritime disasters in British naval history. The disaster has been attributed to a combination of factors, including the navigators' inability to accurately calculate their positions, errors in the available charts and pilot books, and inadequate compasses.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Stafford Fairborne was a Royal Navy officer and Whig politician. As a captain he saw action in command of various ships at the Battle of Beachy Head, at the Battle of Barfleur and at the Battle of Lagos during the Nine Years' War.
Vice-Admiral John Graydon was an English officer of the Royal Navy. He was active during the Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession.
Rochester is a town and former city in Kent, England. It is located at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (48 km) from London. The town's location is due to the bridge which carries the Roman Watling Street over the river.
Eastgate House is a Grade I listed Elizabethan townhouse in Rochester, Kent, England. It is notable for its association with author Charles Dickens, featuring as Westgate in The Pickwick Papers and as the Nun's House in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Now a Dickens Museum, the grounds of Eastgate House contain the Swiss chalet in which Dickens penned several of his novels.
Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Dilkes was an officer in the Royal Navy.
The Lord High Admirals Council was a series of councils appointed to advise and assist the Lord High Admiral of England and then later of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the direction of Naval Affairs also known as Council of the Lord High Admiral when the Board of Admiralty was not in commission the first series took place between 1702-1708 and second and final series of councils took place from 1827-1828.
Wokingham Town Hall is a municipal building in Wokingham, Berkshire, England. The building is the meeting place of Wokingham Town Council and is a Grade II* listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial complex in the High Street, Rochester, Kent, England. The complex, which was commissioned as a corn exchange and is now used as an events venue, is a Grade I listed building.
