Gorgeous UK market town was once a city before ridiculous admin error | UK | News
Immersing you in the atmosphere of centuries ago, the high street in the United Kingdom was a famous setting for many novels by a British author. The town was once a city, but an administrator error led to the status being revoked, although it is home to England’s second oldest cathedral.
Rochester in Kent is also home to a majestic but beautiful Norman castle, established after the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings. Rochester Castle is located on the east bank of the River Medway and has been there for over 900 years. Visitors describe the historic building as a ‘beautiful castle’ with ‘spectacular views’ across the town and river.
Rochester was first recognized as a city in 1211, and as history progressed the settlement was raided by Dutch fleets in the 1600s and other invasions led to the surrounding area being surrounded by castles.
Victorian writer Charles Dickens also walked the streets of Rochester, Kent, from 1837 until his death in 1870; Many of his novels were set in the region and were inspired by the people living there at the time. In this century Rochester was still a city.
In 1998, 120 years later, despite having had city status for nearly 800 years, an administrative error caused Rochester to become a town instead of a city.
The 1998 appointment of trustees needed to preserve Rochester’s city status failed under the watchful eye of officials at the time, but it took four years for the error to come to light.
The new unitary authority, Medway council, was created in 1998 and it was this change that led to the mistake, with the newly formed council blaming its then predecessor organisation.
The City of Rochester Association became aware of its lost city status in 2002, four years after the first slip, after discovering that it was not on the Lord Chancellor’s list of UK cities.
Mayor Ted Baker was appalled when the error was revealed (in 2002) and commented: ‘Rochester was granted city status in 1211. ‘A city is a city’.
However, the mistake was never corrected, and Rochester remains a town today.
The plan for Charles Dickens’ funeral also caused confusion in the hands of the funeral organizers in Rochester at the time.
When he died, Dicken’s wish was to be buried in the crypt of our Lady Chapel of Rochester Cathedral, but his remains were ‘thrown’ in June 1870.
Instead, he was laid to rest in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, leaving an empty grave without a body at his planned resting place in Rochester.
