Recent from talks
History of Rochester, Kent
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
History of Rochester, Kent
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 (now the A2) over the river.
The source of the Romano-British name for Rochester, Durobrivae, has been a matter of some debate.
The name Durobrivae can be translated as "stronghold" or "fort" by the "bridge" or "bridges". This could have been the oppidum (see pre-Roman history, below) or a pre-Roman fort. No such fort has been discovered by archaeologists, but much of the land has been disturbed by the succeeding two millennia of continuous occupation. Alternatively, Durobrivae may refer to a small fort set up by Aulus Plautius, the general in charge of the first phase of the Roman conquest of Britain; it was not needed for long, as Kent was soon settled. More fundamentally, there was no bridge in AD 43. The Romans did eventually bridge the river: see the article Rochester Bridge. The Roman pioneers may even have initially built a pontoon bridge to supply the advancing army, replacing it with this permanent structure later.
The alternative explanation notes that Durobrivae was also recorded as Durobrovum and Durobrivis. Either of these could be a Latinisation of the British word Dourbruf meaning "swift stream".
The name is recorded as Durobrivis in around 730 and Dorobrevis in 844. The first of these was pronounced as "Robrivis". Bede copied down the name, c730, mistaking its meaning as "Hrofi's fortified camp" (OE Hrofes cæster). From this comes c730 Hrofæscæstre, 811 Hrofescester, 1086 Rovescester, 1610 Rochester.
From Bede's time the name contained the Latin word castra, which is present in the names of many cities that were once Roman camps (e.g. Chester Latin Deva). It is often assumed that Rochester was a fortified Roman town, but no evidence has been found of a formal fort. The Roman street pattern suggests that it was a line of shops and houses built alongside a road, the characteristic pattern of a vicus. Systematic fortification did take place after AD 175 and this of course was well before Bede's time.
The Latinised adjective Roffensis refers to Rochester.
Settlement in the area is first evidenced by the Neolithic Medway megaliths, particularly Kit's Coty House. Within the area of Rochester itself Belgic remains under the Roman levels were found in 1961 by R. E. Chaplin. Coin moulds suggest that this was a centre of some importance.
Hub AI
History of Rochester, Kent AI simulator
(@History of Rochester, Kent_simulator)
History of Rochester, Kent
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 (now the A2) over the river.
The source of the Romano-British name for Rochester, Durobrivae, has been a matter of some debate.
The name Durobrivae can be translated as "stronghold" or "fort" by the "bridge" or "bridges". This could have been the oppidum (see pre-Roman history, below) or a pre-Roman fort. No such fort has been discovered by archaeologists, but much of the land has been disturbed by the succeeding two millennia of continuous occupation. Alternatively, Durobrivae may refer to a small fort set up by Aulus Plautius, the general in charge of the first phase of the Roman conquest of Britain; it was not needed for long, as Kent was soon settled. More fundamentally, there was no bridge in AD 43. The Romans did eventually bridge the river: see the article Rochester Bridge. The Roman pioneers may even have initially built a pontoon bridge to supply the advancing army, replacing it with this permanent structure later.
The alternative explanation notes that Durobrivae was also recorded as Durobrovum and Durobrivis. Either of these could be a Latinisation of the British word Dourbruf meaning "swift stream".
The name is recorded as Durobrivis in around 730 and Dorobrevis in 844. The first of these was pronounced as "Robrivis". Bede copied down the name, c730, mistaking its meaning as "Hrofi's fortified camp" (OE Hrofes cæster). From this comes c730 Hrofæscæstre, 811 Hrofescester, 1086 Rovescester, 1610 Rochester.
From Bede's time the name contained the Latin word castra, which is present in the names of many cities that were once Roman camps (e.g. Chester Latin Deva). It is often assumed that Rochester was a fortified Roman town, but no evidence has been found of a formal fort. The Roman street pattern suggests that it was a line of shops and houses built alongside a road, the characteristic pattern of a vicus. Systematic fortification did take place after AD 175 and this of course was well before Bede's time.
The Latinised adjective Roffensis refers to Rochester.
Settlement in the area is first evidenced by the Neolithic Medway megaliths, particularly Kit's Coty House. Within the area of Rochester itself Belgic remains under the Roman levels were found in 1961 by R. E. Chaplin. Coin moulds suggest that this was a centre of some importance.
Recent media