Description

ROCHESTER ESPLANADE TQ 7468 NW 7/35 Bridge Chapel and No 5 (Bridge 24.10.50 Chambers) 19.2.70 GV II Chapel with offices of the Rochester Bridge Fund. Chapel built and endowed as a chantry by Sir John de Cobham in 1386-7 at the S end of the bridge he and Sir Robert Knowlles built across the Medway (demolished 1856); it fell into ruin and was restored and partially rebuilt in 1937. Bridge Chambers, 1879 to replace an early-C18 building. ragstone (random to chapel, snecked to Chambers); Kent tile roofs. Chapel. W end: 1937 3-light window; medieval central door with hood mould flanked by 3-light straight-headed windows, under hood moulds, the lights cusped, all much renewed. Old roof line visible under parapet. N side with blocked window; a doorway (visible internally) once led into what is now the garden of the Castle Club, but there is no evidence to indicate the plan or extent of the buildings associated with the chapel. Interior: W gallery, re-using medieval fragments. 2 piscinas to S. N door (blocked) has tall pointed inner arch with single chamfer. 2 light windows either blocked or with renewed tracery, but inner arches original in part. Roof (5 bays) 1937. Weathered (formerly external) string course to S wall now visible from within Chambers. Bridge Chambers. Entrance hall with trustees' Board Room above, central stair to rear, other principal offices, 1st floor S, 2 storeys. An informal composition but presenting a symmetrical front to Esplanade: parapet with coping and cornice string rises to form a stepped gable above central combined porch and oriel; canted porch with large doorway under hood mould, half glazed double doors with tracery bars, and single-light square-headed side windows; narrower 1:4:1 light oriel with transom, and leaded roof. Later 2-light ground floor window to left. Right return (to Castle Hill); irregular elevation with canted wing to right (with single-light windows under hood moulds to 1st floor, and without hood moulds to ground floor) connected by plain angled stair turret to lefthand bay with 3-light window to each floor; parapet with central stepped gable over this bay continues over wing. Rear with stair turret and large 3-light transomed window lighting stairs. Interior: good joinery, open well stair, panelling to Board Room, and ceilings. One stone C16-style fireplace. The Bridge Chapel and No 5 Esplanade were originally listed as two separate items.

Listing NGR: TQ7413468748

External Links

• Wikidata Q26377497

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Recommended Books

• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)