Another vintage postcard of Rochester Castle, recently added to my collection.

An old print of Rochester Castle from 1850, purchased today.

Another old postcard of Rochester Castle, added to my collection yesterday.

An old print of Rochester Castle interior, from c.1807-11, and recently added to my collection.

From Kent Online, 1st March 2010

 

Wall collapses at Rochester Castle

 

A section of the outer walls at Rochester Castle collapsed after the heavy rain at the weekend. Medway Council staff were told by local residents at about 7am Monday that part of the bailey wall had come down in Bakers Walk. No one was hurt, but the area - about the length of a bus - has been roped off.

 

Tourism manager Simon Curtis said at the scene: "Our first responsibility is for health and safety. A scaffolding company is on its way, and hopefully that will minimise the risk of further damage."

 

Scaffolding and corrugated panelling has been put up around the collapsed wall. Construction advisers from English Heritage and an engineer were due on scene at around 2pm.

 

The castle keep and gardens - site of the popular Castle Concerts in the summer - remain open for visitors. The council manages the castle under an agreement with English Heritage.

 

For information, Baker's Walk runs along the southern side of the castle.

Thanks for that Andrew, it's obviously a concern primarily for safety reasons. Lets hope that a safe, adequate and enduring repair can be made.

From the BBC Website, 1st March 2010

 

Rochester Castle wall collapses after heavy rainfall

 

A section of the outer wall of Rochester Castle has collapsed after heavy rainfall. Staff discovered the crumbled bailey wall, which surrounds the Kent castle's medieval walls, when they arrived for work on Monday. No-one was injured and the area has been taped off.

 

Simon Curtis, of Medway Council, said scaffolding would be erected to protect the collapsed section, pending an assessment by English Heritage. “This is not affecting the castle, which remains open to visitors,” he said.

 

 

 

 

After listening to the BBC interview with Simon Curtis, the following information was gleaned.

 

The partial wall collapse of the bailey wall at Rochester Castle occurred sometime in the early hours of Monday morning. The retaining wall that has collapsed was built probably in the 19th century as an abutment for the historic medieval wall behind it. Scaffolding will be put up immediately, and English Heritage representatives called in to assess the damage.

 

Last time there was a partial bailey wall collapse was in the mid 1990’s, and this was situated on the other side of the castle. It is not unusual for a monument of this age to suffer.

 

The bailey walls sit on Roman foundations and are mainly medieval, and as a minimum about 600-700 years old. A lot of money is spent each year on maintaining the walls and keeping them in as good order as possible.

 

The site will be made safe, but it was stressed that the collapsed part was a more modern section of the wall and not a medieval part.

From This Is Kent, 4th March 2010

 

Fortress Wall Tumbles Down – Fortification Besieged by Mother Nature

 

Part of the outer wall of Rochester Castle has collapsed after the torrential downpour over the weekend. A £30,000 chunk of the castle’s bailey wall in Baker’s Walk on the corner of the Esplanade came tumbling down at 5am on Monday. Scaffolding was put round the standing wall to prevent any further collapse and one of the public walkways was taped off.

 

English Heritage’s building technical manager Steve Pearce, was there to assess the damage. He said, “This sort of thing happens a lot, although it’s the first time it’s happened in Rochester. It happens when the soil erodes round the monument. Part of it gives ways and mother nature finds a weak spot. It will be rebuilt but we need to make sure the other sections are safe.”

 

The cold winter coupled with the weekend’s torrential rain could have caused the collapse, he said. English Heritage and Medway Council are jointly responsible for the castle’s upkeep.

 

Simon Curtis from Medway Council said the part of the wall affected is a retaining wall built in the early 20th century, and is not part of the original Roman or medieval walls. A scaffolding company is onsite to ensure the area is secure and there is no damage to any of the castle’s original features.

 

“Rochester Castle will remain open as normal from 10am to 4pm daily,” he said.

 

Castle History

 

There have been many major repairs to Rochester Castle in its 924-year history.

 

An estimated £10 million of repair work has been done since 2006.

 

The previous major refurbishment took place in the early 1900s, but the wrong mortar was used.

 

In the 17th century the castle roof fell off.

 

The stone keep – the tallest in England – was commissioned by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, William de Corbeil, 1127.

From the Chatham News, 27th May 2010

 

Plan to drawbridge gaps in castle walls

£10m campaign to build new roof and floors

 

More than one thousand people are supporting a campaign to return Rochester Castle to a working building. The group wants to set up a trust to carry out multi-proposals, which include reintroducing a roof and floors to the ancient structure.

 

However, a major stumbling block is the whopping £10million estimated repair bill to carry out any such restoration. An inaugural meeting to thrash out an action plan will be held at the Visitors' Information Centre in Rochester on Saturday 19th June, between 10am and noon.

 

Jon O'Donnell, 37, of Canterbury Street, Gillingham, started a website, www.restorrochestercastle.co.uk and a Facebook group, which has currently attracted 1069 supporters.

 

Mr. O'Donnell, who was inspired into action after taking his son Ethan, seven, to the site, said,"I didn't rrealise how much of the castle had been lost since I was a child. I started a Facebook group to see if anybody else felt the same. Anyone who sees the castle just falls in love with the place. I have been going to the castle for many, many years, and seeing it deteriorating is heartbreaking."

 

Fellow campaigner Peter Reeds, 62, of Borstal Road, Rochester, said, "We want to restore it as a living castle."

 

To encourage people to attend the meeting there will be a free raffle with yoga classes, and art, by Mr. Reeds and Rochester photographer Chris Tong, given away.

 

The Normans began building Rochester Castle in 1087, and today it belongs to Medway Council, but English Heritage have the final say on any conservation work.

 

Mr. O'Donnell added,"Medway Council have been very supportive and is pleased the community has taken an interest in the castle."

 

English Heritage assistant visitor operations director for the south-east, Samantha Lloyd, said, "It would cost several million pounds to fully repair the keep and re-introduce a roof and floors. There is no consensus among conservation experts this is actually the best solution for the long-term care of this outstanding monument."

 

Mr. Reeds claims English Heritage wanted to keep the castle as original-looking as possible, and to monitor the building until 2020.

 

He said, "By 2020 it will be original all right. It will be rock, just like it was before it was built. You used to be able to walk all round it. You can't now. It is not fair on the council. It does not have the money to run it. We want a trust which will look after the castle.

 

Mr. Reeds argued if Rochester Castle was restored, tourist would flock to the town. He said, "There are a lot of businesses here which live off the tourist trade."

 

Mr. O'Donnell has reached out to businesses in Rochester, receiving strong support. He said, "I went up Rochester High Street, with the intention of visiting every shop, but I got stopped talking for about 15 minutes at each shop because there is such a strength of feeling for it."

From Kent News, 6th October 2010

 

Rochester Castle wall restoration almost complete

 

Stone masons will put the finishing touches to the complex restoration work of a weather-damaged section of Rochester Castle's curtain wall next week. The experienced craftsmen have painstakingly repaired the 24m section of retaining wall, which collapsed in March after a deluge of heavy rain led to ground movement.

 

Emergency shoring works were carried out to limit further short-term damage to the wall - not part of the original Roman or medieval walls - and ensure the adjoining historic walls were not disturbed. Structural engineers and English Heritage were then called in to install a concrete base slab and a reinforced concrete wall, before giving the entire new section a rag stone face, in-keeping with the existing wall. The final pieces of thin Kentish stone, taken from the fallen wall, will be put into place from 1pm on Wednesday, October 13.

 

English Heritage's Roy Porter said: "We have been working hard to find the best way to solve this complex problem. There were two primary objectives. First we needed to ensure that there was no further ground disturbance that might put at risk the castle's medieval curtain wall. Second, we had to design a solution that not only performed an important engineering role but also harmonised with the setting and character of the castle. We have sought to create a new structure which is up to the job of retaining the ground beneath the curtain wall without harming the heritage values of Rochester Castle."

 

Medway Council's community services chief Howard Doe added: "We have been working closely with English Heritage to assess the best way to protect the castle's medieval walls, which thankfully, were not affected by the collapse. Rochester Castle is one of Medway's real gems and a vital part of the area's heritage. This conservation project has been a priority for both the council and English Heritage and it is great to see this iconic monument restored for residents and visitors alike to enjoy."

 

 

 

 

From the BBC website, 6th October 2010

 

Collapsed Rochester Castle wall rebuilt

A section of the outer wall of Rochester Castle which collapsed after heavy rainfall has been rebuilt. English Heritage and Medway Council repaired the section of wall, which surrounds the castle's medieval walls.

 

Councillor Howard Doe, the cabinet member for community services, said the 12th Century castle was a vital part of the area's heritage.

 

The work involved installing a concrete-based slab to reduce the risk of further subsidence.