Rochester town, Cathedral and Castle

I had no idea Rochester was so interesting or important

They have a bridge document which pre dates the Magna Carta

The Romans built a bridge across the River Medway as part of Watling Street, carrying traffic from London to Dover (the port for Continental Europe)

In AD 560, King Ethelbert of Kent came to the throne of Kent. Around AD 600 he promulgated a code of about 90 laws defining crimes and punishments. The code was regarded as sufficiently significant that in the twelfth century (over 500 years later) they were written down in the Textus Roffensis, the “Book of [the church of] Rochester”. Although the only surviving copy is the Textus, the laws are referred to by both Bede and Alfred the Great. Æthelberht’s laws are thought to be both the earliest law code of any kind in any Germanic language and their wording the earliest surviving document in the English language.

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.