Geography in Kent > City, Town and Village Histories

Rochester ---- Town or City.

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MartinR:
Nah, that's the Mudway, as anyone launching a dinghy at low tide can confirm. ;D

Smiffy:
City of Medway? I thought the Medway was a river.

Mike Gunnill:

--- Quote from: castle261 on April 27, 2020, 08:29:24 AM ---What exactly happened that Rochester lost it`s city status. May have been discussed on old forum ?

--- End quote ---


This picture was taken for the Daily Telegraph. On Rochester High Street, two weeks before they decided who was getting city-status. The council had gone ahead and rebranded their dustcarts. Very upset when they didn't get the status back. They were even more upset with the picture in DT.


Mike

MartinR:
The origin of City status is a bit more convoluted than simply having a cathedral.  A city was originally a 'civitas' or fortified settlement.  Rochester doesn't appear to be on the list of 28 cities included by Nennius in his C9 history.  However before "time immemorial" (3 September 1189) Rochester had aquired city status.  These original cities had the status by "ancient prescriptive right" and not by a formal legal process.
Henry VIII founded six new dioceses and granted the enclosing town city status by letters patent.  It is the grant of letters patent by the crown which confers city status, not the creation of the cathedral.  In passing both Bath and Westminster lost their cathedrals, but managed to retain their city status.  The next new diocese to be created was Ripon, which did not become a city (officially) until 30 years after the cathedral.  Southwell acquired a cathedral, but never obtained city status since there was no borough corporation whereas in 1889 Birmingham became a city but had no Anglican cathedral until 1905.
In the 1972 reorganisation Rochester  received unique letters patent to allow the former city area to call itself the "City of Rochester" even though there was no council or mayor.  However when the Borough of Medway became Rochester-upon-Medway the city status was transferred to the whole borough and the historic city lost its claim based on the special letters patent from 1972.  Subsequently with the abolition of R-u-M the transferred status was lost.  Currently the 1972 letters are not recognised as being in force, so bye-bye to the City.

Longpockets:
Stuart,


I think Rochester had large cash reserves as well, if I remember correctly, their council Tax was insignificant if not non existent.

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