Rochester Cathedral - The Interior

A view along the nave from the west door

Entering Rochester Cathedral by the west door, the first features along the nave to catch your eye are the Caen stone arcades with chevron decoration and a triforium above, which in places contains blocks of Reigate stone. The nave was rebuilt in 1137 after a great fire and, following yet another fire in 1179, the east end of the cathedral was rebuilt in stages in the Early English style.

The nave from the crossing with Early English arches in the foreground

The eastern two bays of the nave mark an abandoned attempt to rebuild the nave during the 13th century, and the contrast between the new Early English and the old Norman styles is further emphasised by the use of Reigate stone in the piers - with Purbeck marble and Caen stone shafts used for further decoration.

Various monuments in the south aisle

Several substantial monuments can be seen along the south aisle, built with alabaster, varieties of imported marbles and even Coade stone, and various memorials of these and other materials are scattered throughout the rest of the cathedral, and mainly found on the walls. In most cathedrals and mediaeval churches that I have visited, the font is usually quite ancient – with the use of Belgian Tournai marble being common - but here it is dated to 1893 and provides and example of Hopton Wood limestone from Derbyshire.

The Hopton Wood limestone font

With time moving on, my exploration of the eastern end of the church – the quire, the various transepts and the presbytery – was quite brief and, except for the pulpitum in the crossing, with its recesses and statues in Weldon stone by John Loughborough Pearson (1888), the low level of lighting in this part of the church wasn't conducive to a detailed study of the stonework.

The pulpitum

Despite the lighting conditions and my time constraints, when looking at the various photographs that I quickly took in the eastern end of the cathedral, it is still possible to identify Reigate stone in large expanses of ashlar walling, in shafts and ribs to the vaulted ceilings - its pale green/grey colour clearly distinguishing it from the Caen stone that is also used in places.

Views of the north quire transept

The use of such large quantities of Reigate stone in the interior shows that, like the stone castles that were being built at the same time, cathedrals were designed to overtly show the wealth and power of the builders. Considering that it had to be transported around 25 kilometres by cart across the North Downs from Reigate to the River Thames, before shipping to Rochester, money would appear to be no object when constructing cathedrals like this.

Views of the presbytery

Although I have since discovered that are still very many fine details to see in the interior of Rochester Cathedral – for anyone who is fascinated by mediaeval craftsmanship in stone – one particular highlight for me was the effigy of Bishop John de Sheppey, who died in 1360. I have seen several examples of painted alabaster but nothing like the bright colours seen here, which are mostly original.

The tomb of Bishop John Sheppey