Charles Dickens’ Study Hides in Plain Sight in This Quaint English Town
A little over an hour from London, this tiny riverside town has a big heart, lots of history, and the most delightful dining and shopping outlets this side of the British Isles
I’ll be frank about something. I didn’t plan on writing about Rochester.
I’d never heard of this town until this past winter, and I would not have given it any thought if I hadn’t been brought here by chance. Having to stay for a month, I was convinced I’d end up binge-watching Netflix shows out of boredom (for the record, I hate binge-watching anything). I mean, what could be worth seeing in a tiny town in Kent that no one’s ever heard about? Am I right? Wrong! I was so wrong.
Rochester is full of historic sights, beautiful architecture, independent shops and tempting eateries, and all the places worth checking out sit within a hop, skip and a jump of each other. Every time I stepped through the front door of a business or a venue, I felt like I had walked into a parallel universe. I had a hard time tearing myself away from almost every place I visited and was often reminded, politely, about closing hours.
Rochester, as it turns out, is the perfect offbeat destination. The best thing is that if you’re short on time, you could easily see the town on a day trip from London.
Right, so let me show you around.
The Cathedral and the Castle transport you back to the Middle Ages
You can make a sightseeing loop around Rochester in half an hour – on foot! But once you start popping into the places worth your attention, you could while away hours. During my stay, I first stumbled upon the cathedral and the castle, because both were within a short stroll from my accommodation.
Rochester Castle is fantastically well-preserved. Perched on top of a hill overlooking the River Medway, when seen from the riverbank, it looks every bit as imposing as it must have looked back in its heyday. At night time, the interior of the main tower is aglow with red light that gives it an eerie and mysterious vibe. Full disclosure, I am not a fan of medieval castles, and due to the Arctic temperatures in England this winter, I spent very little time here. I would love to come back and explore in spring or summertime when one can sit outside without freezing and get all romantic about the past.
Right across the street from the castle sits Rochester’s other Medieval treasure – the second oldest cathedral in England. One of the cathedral staffers – a frail, lady with white hair – welcomed me with a beaming smile and proceeded to tell me a little about the place and what can be seen inside. Glancing over the flyer she had just handed me, I noticed that the cathedral’s history spanned 1400 years, yet construction had started in the 1080’s. When I pointed out to her that this didn’t quite add up, mathematically, the staffer told me that a place of worship had existed on this site since the 600’s.
“That might have been a stone slab for druids to gather around,” I remarked jokingly.
“Oh, well,” she laughed it off, “we don’t know what temple stood here, but they start counting since the first recorded service.”
I don’t know about you but to me that’s a little cheeky. Nevertheless, whatever stone slab or wooden shack of a temple this might have been in 600 AD, right now it’s a monumental and magnificent cathedral.
I’ve seen beautiful temples before – from Saint Sofia in Istanbul through the Vatican to the other-worldly Sagrada Familia – and yet, this far lesser-known cathedral stops me in my tracks.
I am surrounded by art left, right, below and above – and it comes in so many different styles, that I need time to take it all in. From the elaborately decorated floor tiles to the dramatically poised funerary statues, everything has a distinct style. As if every craftsman, sculptor and painter who contributed to the whole over the centuries brought their own flavour – and yet managed to keep this architectural dish balanced instead of spoiling it. In fact, that’s most likely what happened.
Cathedrals took forever to complete, and this one was no exception. Work lasted roughly a century and a half; the tower was added over the course of another century following that. In the meantime, trends changed so much that the architectural vibe evolved. To see what I am talking about, look up at the arches in the nave, and you’ll notice that the majority have a rounded Norman style. By the time most of them were completed, a new era had begun, and the last two remaining rows of arches curve into distinctly Gothic, pointed crowns. The new generation of architects must have had a complete change of heart about the direction this project was taking. Somehow it all turned out beautifully eclectic.
Speaking of eclectic design, one particular thing kept catching my eye. A tiny single scallop that I kept seeing everywhere in Rochester – in souvenir and vintage shops, on postcards and in furniture designs, and on the bathroom tiles in my residential accommodation. I was convinced it might have a meaning or symbology, and it turned out that it appears on the coats of arms of local religious and secular organisations.
An architectural museum of a high street
Nowadays, nearly all high streets in England look as if they have been 3D printed off a template. Tasteless kebab shops and other junk food eateries sit side by side with carbon copies of chain brands selling mass-produced stuff. Few high streets have any real character, and Rochester boasts one of those rare gems.
The first thing that strikes me about the high street is that I’ve never seen so many buildings from so many different eras lined in a single row. There are a thousand and one architectural styles in London, of course, sometimes crammed closely together, but the architecture in the capital is usually suffocating.
Rochester is a different story. Starting with 16th-century Tudor houses and flipping through Georgian, Victorian and more recent architectural styles, the facades are vibrantly, excitingly at odds with each other. Think of it as a retrospective of British architecture throughout the centuries. And it’s the same story all over town, not just the high street.
What’s even more exciting is that businesses here do their best to get your attention and they use imagination to achieve that. Beautiful boutiques beckon with vibrantly painted facades and well-arranged window displays. Even the business names are well thought-out. The Hound Hut stocks dog food, I Dig Dinos sells fossils and minerals, and Sweet Expectations offers candy – and a nod to Charles Dickens (we’ll get to Dickens and his ties to Rochester in a bit).
Here are a few places worth checking out…
Baggins Book Bazaar claims to be one of the largest second-hand bookshops in the country. If you like rare, out-of-print titles, you will find a huge selection of books inside this musty shop with endless shelves. The décor is spartan, but the catalogue is impressive and that’s what makes the place worth a visit.
Store 104 offers a two-floor, 3-in-1 concept that combines a yarn store with a bookshop and a snug café. Upstairs, the walls are adorned with paintings by regional artists – a mini-gallery of sorts. As if all that’s not enough, Store 104 also hosts monthly reading clubs and knitting groups. I’m really tempted to call the latter knitathons, but since I cannot wrap my head, nor my fingers around a thread, I should probably avoid cracking jokes about it.
One of the owners – a young, friendly guy knitting at the counter – shared with me that his family had been running a yarn business for half a century when he decided to expand it by adding an indie bookshop and a café to the mix, and that’s how this curious hybrid was born. He seemed proud of the history preceding the business too.
Pointing behind the counter, at the remnants of a tiled wall with an eye-popping cloverleaf pattern, he explained that this was part of the original department store, which occupied the premises in the 1800’s. Another relic from the old store, hung in a frame by the front door, an announcement for a seasonal sale dating back to the tail end of the 19th century.
Like many other places in Rochester, this one too had rich history. I couldn’t help but admire how locals have kept all of these historical titbits intact and on display all around!
Wining and Dining… and Snacking
Touring the castle and the other historic sites helps to work up an appetite in no time. The good news is there are lots of places to have a bite.
Occupying a Tudor-style house, The Cheese Room Botanicals features a snug dining environment with rough-hewn wooden interiors and solid wooden furniture. The chef has put to the test the old adage that limitations nourish creativity by creating a menu themed around one single type of food – cheese. Get ready for a long list featuring cheese boards, cheese-based dishes and cheese snacks. Only five houses up on the same side of the road you can find the Cheese Room Deli & Café, which is part of the same business. Whether you fancy a lighter meal, a quick brunch or buying some treats to savour later, this is a nice spot for all of the above.
At 44 High Street, a wood-panelled house with a ground floor painted in a gorgeous shade of deep, navy-blue is tilted at such an awkward angle as if it’s had too much to drink and is trying to lean on its neighbour for support across the narrow lane. This wobbly house is home to Wolfe & Castle, a microbrewery specialising in craft beers. Lots of unusual choices here for the connoisseurs – stouts, ales, lagers – all from rare, non-mainstream producers. You can grab a bottle or a can and enjoy the intimacy of sitting at one of the half a dozen tables inside this tiny watering hole.
For the sweet-toothed, there’s The Candy Bar. The baby-pink façade has a windowsill proudly announcing that they sell a jaw-dropping, mouth-watering selection of 58 varieties of fudge – all made in Cornwall according to the shop assistant. They also have a wall lined with jams and honeys from British producers and beekeepers, plus a lot of chocolates and gummies. The mint fudge is to die for, but of course, with so many options, you’d be hard pressed to pick one. Fear not, you can mix and match!
The Charles Dickens connection, flat packed offices and other curious stuff
Spend enough time in Rochester, and you will spot Charles Dickens’ busts inside shops, at local historic houses and inside the Cathedral Library. Dickens spent part of his childhood in nearby Chatham and later in life returned to the area. Several of his novels have subplots set in Rochester. Restoration House, which is open to the public, was the inspiration for Miss Havisham’s home in the Great Expectations, and the sweetshop on the high street called Sweet Expectations, clearly wanted to honour the connection.
Let me guide you to another curious sight that you might miss.
On the high street, you will find Eastgate House, a 16th-century Tudor-era residence that has been well-preserved, most likely due to the fact that it was continuously occupied during the centuries and served as a boarding school and a hostel. Today it’s open as a museum and as much as I hate to say this, it’s not worth your time. There’s something curious here, though, that you can see for free.
Walk through the front iron gate, past the entrance to the house, and you will find yourself in the back yard facing a wooden, two-storey mini–Swiss chalet. What’s that, you may ask? This, my dear wanderers, was Charles Dickens’ study where it’s believed that the author wrote many of his masterpieces. It was a flatpack piece of architecture shipped all the way from Europe as a gift by a friend of Dickens. If you ask me, it looks suspiciously a lot like the precursor of IKEA – much prettier, though, with its frilly design, and sturdier given how long it has survived under the elements.
Here’s a little game you can play. Look out for the plaques on buildings on the high street and see how many you can find that appear in Dickens’ novels – as well as for other objects in town that have ties to the author. Let’s see what you can spot.
After all the sightseeing, shopping and dining, you can top up a visit to Rochester with a riverside stroll. The best time for that is right before dark as the sun dips below the horizon over the river Medway. A 30-minute leisurely amble is all it takes to see the bridge and the riverbanks, but it’s well worth the views. Sunsets are a joy to behold from this vantage point, when you manage to catch one.
Sometimes we don’t give a certain place a chance for no reason at all and I would have done that with Rochester. Don’t be like me. This town deserves multiple visits.
Until next time, with wander-love,
Your “Local” Insider
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A lovely piece about a lovely town ❤️
Thank you for this, I marked all the spots you mentioned on my wishlist map :)