News Around the Medway Towns

Medway Council scoops prestigious literary prize

Medway Council's archivists are celebrating after an iconic 12th Century legal work in their care won a high profile competition.

The Textus Roffensis was written between 1123 and 1124 and contains the earliest record of the English language; English laws and the coronation oath of Henry I, which influenced the barons who drafted the Magna Carta.

Last night, Tuesday, 4 September, they were announced the winners of the British Library competition in London to uncover national treasures that are hidden in the country's libraries and archives.

The two distinct books are owned by Rochester Cathedral and kept in the Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre in the Civic Centre, Strood.
The first part contains one of the most important of all surviving collections of Anglo-Saxon laws, from the conversion of King Aethelberht of Kent to the coronation charter of King Henry I of 1100.
The second part is the oldest and most precious of the cathedral registers. It can best be described as a memorandum book, created for ease of reference and security, and compiled in part from individual or single sheet original documents.

Medway beat off stiff competition from 82 entries, having dazzled the judges with the historic 235-page volume of work.

The prize means Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre will be able to digitise this important piece of work with the Turning the Pages 2.0 software.
Medway Council's Portfolio Holder for Community Services Cllr Howard Doe, is delighted with the news. He said: "This is wonderful news and everyone from Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre and Rochester Cathedral should feel incredibly proud of this accolade.

"This is a great opportunity to bring this historically important document to life with new technology and share it with a wider audience, as well as putting Medway on the map."

The council's Archives and Local Studies officer April Lambourne, who was at the ceremony, added: "We were amazed when we were announced as the winners. This is an amazingly important document. We were competing against a diverse collection, but are delighted to have won."

You can read more about Textus Roffensis and its fascinating history by visiting  http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/gallery

Unexpected archaeological discovery at Rochester Castle

Archaeologists digging the foundations for a new safety fence around the base of Rochester Castle Keep got more than they bargained for.

When they started work on a pit at the north-west corner of the great keep, built in the early 12th century, they had barely taken the turf off when they unearthed a solid mass of stone masonry.

Further work showed that they had uncovered the Roman city wall, which appears to have been used as the foundation for the south side of the keep.

The work is part of a conservation project led by Medway Council and English Heritage. The project includes repairs to the ramparts at the top of the castle, as well as new balustrades fitted to the ramparts around the base of the keep. Stonework in the mural gallery ceiling is being repaired and, of course, the new safety fence is being put up.

Rochester Castle remains open during the work. The ramparts had to be temporarily closed last year for health and safety reasons. They are due to re-open in July once work has been completed.

For Graham Keevill, the castle archaeologist, the discovery echoed his work at the Tower of London. 

He said: "I've been working at the Tower for 14 years now and what did we find unexpectedly on my very first project there? The city wall of Roman Londinium, re-used as part of the foundations for the medieval Bowyer Tower. It's an amazing coincidence.''

The Roman wall is in very good condition. It is almost six feet (1.8m) wide, with carefully built faces and a rubble core. The medieval masonry is stepped back slightly from the outer face of the Roman masonry, but it is clear that the builders of the keep knew good masonry when they saw it.

Why dig a new foundation when there was a piece of top-quality Roman wall there already? It is an excellent example of a common practice in the past that archaeologists are very familiar with - recycling.

The Roman city wall hasn't been the only discovery at Rochester Castle. Graham's team has also found the late 11th-century rampart in two places, underlying the medieval defensive wall that once surrounded the castle - though parts of it have been destroyed over the years.

To preserve the Roman wall, the pits will be covered in and the new fence around the keep's base will be suitably re-aligned to protect this important piece of archaeology.

The conservation programme forms part of the local management agreement between Medway Council and English Heritage. This agreement means that the council runs the castle on a day-to-day basis so the future of this national treasure lies in the hands of local people.

Medway Council apologises for any inconvenience that is caused while the essential conservation work is carried out.

Notes.

1. The castle's great keep is one of the tallest in the country. It measures 113 feet high, 70 feet square and has walls 12 feet thick in places. It was on, or close to, the present castle site that the Romans built their first fort to guard the bridge carrying their legions over the river on their way from Dover to London and beyond.
2. Some centuries later, in 1087, Bishop Gundulf - one of William the Conqueror's finest architects - began the construction of today's castle, making use of what remained of the original Roman city walls.
3. The castle has had a chequered history, having been three times subjected to siege and was partly demolished in 1215 by King John, who gained entry by undermining the south-west tower, using the fat from 40 pigs to set fire to the pit props.
4. Today, visitors can see the rebuilt round tower, contrasting with the square towers of the original Norman castle.