Image: south transept of Rochester cathedral (photo: C.A. Stanford)
Acquired: 1540
Henry acquired the former cathedral priory of Rochester upon its dissolution and converted the former monastic buildings into lodgings that he intended to use when he traveled to Canterbury or Dover, as he had formerly stayed in the abbey itself. A number of accounts indicate such conversion work, including making the former frater into a great hall, and the refectory into a great chamber, with two new galleries, one over the old cloister. The eastern range was altered into royal apartments for the king and queen.
The house did not long remain in Crown possession; after Henry’s death Edward VI granted it to a courtier, who sold it to the dean and chapter of Rochester, who had it demolished and the materials sold, although some trace ruins still exist today.
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