Rochester Bridge

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). This was almost certainly the first bridge at the site, and probably the earliest major bridge built in Britain by the Roman army, as the Romans were the first occupiers to have the necessary technology to bridge such a wide and fierce tidal river. The Roman engineers might have initially built a pontoon bridge to support and supply their invading armies; however this would have needed replacing by a stronger, more permanent bridge to support increased traffic. Victorian engineers discovered the Roman foundations when they were building the current Old Bridge, they found that stone foundations had been used, probably to support a wooden deck.

The piers of the Roman bridge survived well into the Middle Ages, supporting a timber deck with three beams of cross-planking. In 1264, Simon de Montfort besieged the gate house and set fire to the bridge as part of his successful attempt to take Rochester.[1] In the latter part of the 14th century the bridge consisted of nine stone piers supporting a wooden superstructure.[2] Administratively the responsibility for bridge was divided amongst local landowners and institutions. This worked reasonably well, though sometimes those liable refused to co-operate and had goods seized.[3] In 1311 for instance the King's bailiff, William Mot, seized a horse and five cows from the tenants of Westerham, however Richard Trewe and Hamon le Brun "rescued" the animals back and Richard "beat the said William".[4] Despite partial rebuilding, the bridge fell into disrepair and collapses occurred with the worrying frequency of about once a year. In 1339 the bridge was down for 24 weeks, then the first and third piers were found to be decayed (repairs estimated at £19 and £8 6s 8d). In 1361 the bridge was in a dangerous state for 3 weeks and a boat had to be hired as a ferry.[3] In the winter of 1380–81 a large proportion of the bridge was carried away by the combined forces of meltwater and ice.[5] In 1382, the bridge being impassible" a commission was appointed to enquire as to those responsible for its maintenance.[6] The commission included John de Cobham who as supervisor of repairs ensured the bridge was passable by the following year.

Ships laid up in the Medway, downstream of the old bridge at right, circa 1675

The building of a stone bridge was organised and funded by Sir John de Cobham and Sir Robert Knolles (or Knollys), finished in 1391. It was located about 100 yards upstream of the Roman bridge and had 11 arches and a total length of 570 feet (170 m)[7] It was 14 feet (4.3 m) wide.[1] To ensure the maintenance of their new bridge, the two men instituted the Wardens and Commonalty of Rochester Bridge. The two elected wardens were appointed under letters patent from Richard II to own land and use the income for the bridge. The Wardens and Commonalty received grants of land from Henry IV and Henry V, as well as money from other benefactors, including Richard Whittington.[8] The trust was able to maintain the bridge using income from property and investments, and materials from its own woods and quarries. A scheme of improvements were carried out from 1792 to widen the roadway of the bridge, to the plans of the engineer Daniel Asher Alexander. The two central arches merged into one in 1824 to provide a wider channel for shipping, under the supervision first of John Rennie the Elder, and completed by Thomas Telford.[9][10] In 1856, when modern river traffic demanded a new structure the medieval bridge was demolished with the help of the Royal Engineers.

1856 bridge- smoke and a sunset

Cubbitt's cast iron bridge was built in 1856 to replace the stone bridge.[11] This bridge was built downstream of the stone bridge, on the alignment of the current bridge and where the Romans had built theirs.[7] It comprised three cast iron arches and a swing bridge span designed to swing open to allow river traffic, but the mechanism was never used and was eventually removed. The cast iron arches were below the road deck, making the bridge relatively low and meant that passing traffic at high tide had to navigate to line up with the top of the arch or risk striking the bridge.

Not every ship was successful and many collisions occurred. These took their toll on the bridge and an inspection in 1909 showed fractured ribs and missing bolts. After a relatively short life a new bridge was needed.

From around 1908 to 1932[12] the bridge also carried the tracks for the local tram system linking Strood and Frindsbury with Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham.

The cast iron bridge was reconstructed at a cost of £95,887. The bridge opened for traffic on 14 May 1914 with new features to allow more clearance for the many boats that had to pass under it. The supporting arched trusses were built further apart and above the road deck. Trams continued to use the bridge until the tram system was abandoned in 1930 and superseded by buses.[12]

In 1970 a second road bridge was opened immediately next to the first, to increase capacity. The old bridge underwent major maintenance and complete refurbishment, completed in November 2006, to extend the lifespan another 30 years. As for all the work to the bridges, this was paid for by the Rochester Bridge Trust with the proceeds from the original endowments and was carried out at no cost to the public taxpayer.

National Cycle Route 1 passes over the road bridges.

The Roman Bridge was built circa AD 43 on the instructions of the Emperor Claudius. The flat bridge deck was supported on nine stone piers set on iron tipped oak timbers driven deep into the riverbed. To achieve this, a coffer-dam of two concentric circles of shallow piling was constructed around the site of each pier. The space between the two circles was then packed with clay to make the coffer-dam waterproof, and the water inside was pumped out to create a dry working area on the riverbed. The main oak piling was then driven deep into the chalk bedrock. The piers were built within a timber framework; they were stone faced and packed with ragstone rubble. Across the piers three oak beams were placed and planks laid over that to form the road-deck. [13]

This was a stone bridge of eleven arches. It was built by Henry Yevele between August 1387 September 1391. The bridge over the tidal River Medway was 560 feet (170 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) wide. The piers were built on protective platforms called starlings, each about 40 feet (12 m) wide and 90 feet (27 m) long with cutwaters or pointed ends upstream and downstream to deflect the current. They were constructed from 10,000 piles that were connected by joists. The wooden structure was packed with chalk (the local stone) and then decked in elm planking. On these platforms were constructed 12 stone piers at irregular distances apart. There were connected by a drawbridge in bay 5, and gothic style stone arches for the other ten. Above these was the bridge deck with parapets. This was paved in Kentish ragstone.[14]

The committee considered three proposals when the Medieval bridge needed to be replaced: a stone bridge, a suspension bridge and the cast iron bridge that was eventually built. The navy required a passage so masted vessels could proceed up stream. The ubiquitous Thames barge could lower its mast but other classes of vessel had fixed masts- this limited the choice to one.[15]

The new bridge was 40 feet (12 m) wide with a combined span of 485 feet (148 m) over the three arches. The outside arches were each 140 feet (43 m), and the central arch was 170 feet (52 m) long with 18 feet (5.5 m) feet of headroom at high water. It appeared delicate, but the cast iron structure weighed over 2,500 metric tons (2,500 long tons). It rested on foundations of cast iron cylinders sunk through the riverbed into the bedrock.[15]

On the Strood side of the bridge was the ship passage: a channel 40 feet (12 m) in width. It was spanned by a swing bridge consisting of six wrought iron girders turning on a cast iron roller path, 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter with 30 cast iron rollers. The centre wrought iron screw was 11 inches (28 cm) in diameter. The swing bridge was delicately balanced. The total weight of the swing bridge and roadway was over 300 tonnes, it could have been rotated with ease 90 degrees upriver.[15]

A Chatham Main Line train approaches the (second) bridge

Medway Towns
North Kent Line & HS1 to London Bridge & St Pancras Chatham Main Line to Victoria & Blackfriars Medway Valley Line to Maidstone West Halling Cuxton Strood Rochester Bridge | Strood (1st) Rochester Bridge Goods station Rochester Common Rochester (2015–) Rochester (1892–2015) Chatham Central River Medway Chatham Gillingham Rainham Chatham Main Line to Faversham, Dover & Ramsgate

The East Kent Railway built the first rail bridge (which opened on 29 March 1858) for its line from Strood to Chatham. It was designed and built by Joseph Cubitt, and had four spans, one of which could be opened to allow masted ships through, although this was later found to be unnecessary and so was fixed shut.[16] The bridge was built of iron girders supported on masonry piers, 600 feet in length and weighing 700 tons.[17] The East Kent Railway became the London Chatham and Dover Railway 1 August 1859 and in 1861 the bridge became a part of the newly completed Chatham Main Line from London to Dover.

The South Eastern Railway, the LCDR's local rival, built a branch line from its nearby railway line at Strood across the Medway to its own Rochester station, Rochester Common, opened on 20 July 1891, and its own Chatham station, Chatham Central, opened 1 March 1892, for which it built the massive second railway bridge over the Medway.[18]

The two rivals merged under a Joint Managing Committee in 1899 to form the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, and subsequent rationalisation saw the SER's Chatham Central branch closed on 1 October 1911, three years before World War I. In 1927 the Chatham Mainline was diverted to use the more substantial second railway bridge, and the original LCDR railway bridge was left unused for decades until it was eventually demolished, the piles being used for the second road bridge which opened in 1970.[18]

The trust also contributed to the construction of the Medway Tunnel (1996), a few miles downstream. In 2008 negotiations were completed by Medway Council which purchased the freehold of the tunnel from the Trust for £1 with a £3.6m contribution on future costs.[20][21] It was the first immersed tube tunnel to be built in England and only the second of this type in the UK, the other being at Conwy, North Wales. The 720 metres (2,360 ft) long tunnel took 4 years to complete, at a cost of £80m - and was opened by the Princess Royal on 12 June 1996.[22]

The trust has also made grants for local good causes ranging from a few thousand pounds to more significant grants. In particular, contributions have been made to the restoration of many important historic buildings in Kent. The most recent of the larger grants have been for the restoration of the south transept of Rochester Cathedral, and to appoint a Professor of Bridge and Tunnel Engineering at the University of Greenwich (Medway Campus). In the 1880s, the Trust founded Rochester and Maidstone Girls Grammar schools and made large endowments to the Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School in Rochester and the Maidstone Boys Grammar School.

The Bridge Chapel in 1788

The Bridge Chapel was built in 1383. It stopped being a chapel in 1548 and was used as a storeroom for bridge materials, a house, and later a pub and as a fruit shop. Over time it deteriorated and lost its roof. It was restored in the 1930s and used as a meeting room and exhibition space. Once a year, on All Souls' Day (2 November) it used to hold a commemoration service for the founders of the Rochester Bridge Trust.[23]