TELLING THE STORY...
Part of the Society's remit is to promote public interest in and care for the beauty, history and character of the city and its surroundings. One way it does this is by publishing books and pamphlets covering a wide range of Rochester-related topics. It also publishes a quarterly Newsletter for its members containing articles on aspects of the city's history and issues of current interest and concern.
Copies of the Society's publications are obtainable from the Society (see below) and from local outlets, including the Visitor Information Centre, 95 High Street, Rochester. They are available for consultation - and to buy - at the Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre in Strood. The publications and the quarterly Newsletter also form part of the local archive itself and thus, it is hoped, will be of help and interest to future generations researching the history of our city.
Currently available publications
Click on the title to find out more about each one
Rochester - the past 2000 years: An illustrated record
Rochester's Heritage Trail: A do-it-yourself walking tour
The Dutch Raid: Samuel Pepys's account of the Dutch raid on the Medway
Rochester '98: An illustrated record of events in Rochester during one year
Merrily to Frendsbury: A history of the parish of Frindsbury
The Medway Towns 1790 - 1850: The emergence of Britain's first conurbation
Leaflets - free of charge:
Eastgate Without
Charles Dickens and the Medway Towns
Strood Explored
Rochester - a walk around the City
Victorian and Edwardian Rochester
A tour of Dickensland
Down the River
The Vines and Other Green Spaces
All the Society's publications may be obtained from:
City of Rochester Society publications
32, Powlett Road,
Frindsbury,
Rochester,
Kent, ME2 4RD
Telephone 01634 721886
Cheques should be made payable to The City of Rochester Society
A Man of Many Parts - Edwin Harris 1859 -1938
A Man of Many Parts:
Edwin Harris of Rochester 1859 - 1938
By Pat Salter
Edwin Harris was indeed a man of many parts: writer, businessman, antiquarian, Dickensian, special constable, druid and family man. He lived here for nearly his entire life and recorded its history in fact and fiction producing a prodigious number of books about the city. Pat Salter has researched the man, his life and his work in this delightful book about a character who can truly be described as a man of Rochester.
Price £8.95
by post £10.50
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Rochester - the past 2000 years
Rochester - the past 2000 years
Rochester - the Past 2000 Years records some of the major events which have occurred in and around our city since the arrival of the Romans in AD 43. Available in both hard and soft back, it is beautifully illustrated and easily readable. It is an ideal reference book for those with an interest in Rochester's long history.
Price
£15.00 hard back
£10.00 soft back
by post
£17.00
£11.50
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Hasted's City and Liberty of Rochester (1782)
Edward Hasted's
City & Liberty of Rochester (1782)
The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent was Hasted's life work and remains today the finest of the 18th century county histories. The story of Rochester is contained in the fourth volume of the second edition, published in 1798., and it is from this edition that we have taken this extract covering the city.
Price £10.00
by post £11.50
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Rochester's Heritage Trail
Rochester's Heritage Trail
This very reasonably priced little book can fairly be described as a do-it- yourself walking tour. It covers the route of the Society's own conducted walking tour and tells something of the many historic buildings and sites along the way. It also gives a brief resume of the city's long and illustrious history. For those who do not have the time to take a tour with a Society guide, this is the ideal substitute.
Price £1.50
by post £2.00
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The Dutch Raid
The Dutch Raid
This is the story of the worst naval defeat suffered by the English made even more infamous by the incompetence and self-interest of those involved. Drawing extensively on the diarist's own observations recorded during the heat of the crisis, and in the aftermath, Peter Downton gives us a fascinating insight into those troubled times.
Price £3.00
by post £3.50
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Rochester 98
Rochester '98
Literally a snapshot of a year in the old city. This booklet records happenings during the year caught in about forty photographs with enlightening captions.
Price free
by post 50p
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Merrily to Frendsbury
Merrily to Frendsbury - A history of the Parish of Frindsbury
The ancient Parish of Frindsbury transcends the city boundary and for centuries part of it lay within the City and Liberty of Rochester. Thus the histories of city and parish are intertwined and in this compact volume the story of the Parish unfolds from the pen of long-time resident Derek Barnard. Frindsbury could be described as a microcosm of Kent itself, with so many of the county's distinctive characteristics and features represented there - from farming to hop growing, chalk quarrying to fishing and ship building. It is a must both for the serious researcher and for those with a passing interest in this fascinating area.
Price £10.00
by post £11.50
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The Medway Towns 1790 - 1850
The emergence of Britain’s first conurbation
The Medway Towns 1790 - 1850
We take it for granted now that the Medway Towns together form a single conurbation, the boundaries of the three principal towns having long since become so blurred as to be almost indistinguishable.  But it was not always so.  For centuries Rochester - former Roman settlement and centre of England’s second oldest diocese - stood separate and aloof from the small fishing hamlets of Chatham and Gillingham, but meeting the needs of the great naval and military bases which became established here led the two hamlets to expand in size and importance, physically to merge with one another and with their more historic neighbour, and in some ways to overshadow it.  This process was already under way by the end of the 18th century, well before the emergence of many of the better known conurbations elsewhere in England.  This booklet is invaluable in helping the student of British urban expansion to understand the cause and effect of this development.
Price £3.50
by post £4.50
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Victorian Cemeteries of the Medway Towns
The Victorian Cemeteries of the Medway Towns
This publication evolved from researches begun in the 1980s by a small group of people whose primary interest lay in garden history. In 1994 the group became involved in a survey of local cemeteries organised by the Kent Garden Trust. It was soon realised that the history of the Medway Towns cemeteries was far more complex - and interesting- than had been suspected. The Victorian Cemeteries of the Medway Towns has proved very popular at a time when family history research is so popular.
Price £4.00
by post £5.00
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The Fires of Chatham 1800 and 1820
The Fires of Chatham
In 1800 and again in 1820 fire devastated two densely populated areas of Chatham between the Rochester boundary and Military Road. This booklet recounts the stories of these tragedies but just as importantly tells the stories of the efforts made to bring aid to those most seriously affected. They draw on the reports of William Jefferys, Attorney at Law, whose attention to detail and his quality of presentation give a fascinating insight into the affected areas of a Royal Naval Dockyard and military town.
Price £4.00
by post £5.50
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Leaflets
A Walk round the City
A Walk Around the City
This is a self-guiding walk around the city centre looking at some of Rochester's principal buildings: the Cathedral, Castle, Guildhall, Restoration House, etc. It is available at a small charge from the Visitor Information Centre.
The Society has also produced a series of self-guiding leaflets covering other areas of the City and its surroundings:-
Easgate Without
  • Eastgate Without covering the eastern part of the city centre between Star Hill and the former borough boundary with Chatham
Strood Explored
  • Strood Explored covering parts of the City west of the bridge
Victorian & Edwardian Rochester explored
  • Victorian and Edwardian Rochester covering the area immediately to the south of the city centre.
The Vines
  • The Vines and other green spaces telling the story of The Vines - the former vineyard of the Priory of St Andrew - and mentioning some of the city's other parks and gardens.
Down the Medway
  • Down the Medway describing a trip down river from Rochester Pier to Kingsnorth - a popular cruise undertaken regularly by the Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle.
A tour of Dickensland
  • A tour of Dickensland for those with an interest in the countryside around Rochester made famous in Charles Dickens's novels.
Dickens and Rochester
  • Charles Dickens and Rochester is for those seeking to identify the Dickens connections in and around Rochester.
Single copies of these leaflets are available for 30p including postage.
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Available to members.....
Newsletter
The Society produces its own Newsletter containing articles of general and historic interest about Rochester and about the current issues affecting the future of our city. It is sent to all members
four times a year - in February, May, August and November.