The Bridge Chapel, Rochester
The Bridge Chapel, Rochester
The Bridge Chapel is a Grade II medieval chantry chapel on the Esplanade at Rochester, Kent, built at the south end of the former Medway bridge and now used with the adjoining Bridge Chambers by the Rochester Bridge Trust.
- Location
- Rochester, Kent
- Country
- England
- County
- Kent
- City / town
- Rochester
- Address
- Esplanade, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1QE
- Postcode
- ME1 1QE
- Built
- 1386–87; restored and partly rebuilt 1937; Bridge Chambers 1879
- Denomination
- Other
- Dedication
- Holy Trinity, Mary, and All Saints
- Grade
- II
- Style
- Medieval chantry chapel
- Materials
- Random ragstone to the chapel, snecked ragstone to Bridge Chambers; Kent tile roofs
- Grid reference
- TQ 741 687
- Opening hours
- The chapel is not open to the public, but the exterior can be seen from the street.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic England lists the chapel with Bridge Chambers. The listing records a chantry built and endowed by Sir John de Cobham in 1386–87 at the south end of the bridge he and Sir Robert Knolles built across the Medway (demolished 1856). The Kent Historic Environment Record and the scheduled-monument description state that it was founded in honour of the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and All Saints, probably reflecting three altars, and was suppressed in 1548. Later uses included a store, a dwelling, and a Victorian shop. The chapel fell into ruin and was restored and partly rebuilt in 1937; the adjoining Bridge Chambers of 1879 replaced an early eighteenth-century building.
The fabric is ragstone (random to the chapel, snecked to the Chambers) with Kent tile roofs. The west end has a 1937 three-light window and a medieval central door with hood mould flanked by three-light straight-headed windows; the five-bay roof is of 1937. The interior retains two piscinas on the south side, a blocked north door with a tall pointed inner arch, and a west gallery re-using medieval fragments. Listing NGR is TQ 74134 68748. The chapel is also a scheduled monument (list entry 1003360).