The present steeple was built about the year 1749. |On the north side of the cathedral stands a tower or castle, |supposed to have been erected by bishop Gundulph, whose name it |bears; it was originally sixty feet high, but is now much reduced: |the walls are six feet thick, and enclose an area of twenty feet |square. | |Rochester has a stone bridge over the Medway, of eleven arches, |the largest being about forty feet wide. The castle is so lofty |that it may be seen at the distance of thirty miles; several |attempts have been made to pull it down, but it was found too |durable to pay for the expence of rescaling the stones. | |Rochester and Chatham are connected by a long row of buildings on |a gentle eminence, called the Bank. In the cemetery, on the north |side of the cathedral, is the church belonging to the parish of |St. Nicholas. The present fabric was erected about the year 1620. |It is a very substantial building, the walls being of great |thickness, and supported on all sides by buttresses; it consists |of a nave and two side aisles, which are separated by two ranges |of lofty columns, from which spring the arches supporting the |roof. The episcopal palace is at Bromley, no bishop having resided |here since the Reformation. The town hall, erected in 1687, is a |handsome structure: the clock-house was built in 1686, at the |expence of Sir Cloudesley Shovel, who also gave the clock; it has |been subsequently repaired and beautified at the city’s expence. |The main street is wide and well paved. This city sends two |members to parliament, who are elected by the freemen at large. |The market is on Friday. | 165|Rockbere, Devon, 116. A parish containing 78 houses, and 419 |inhabitants. | 164|Rockwell Green, Somerset, 194. | 39|Rodd Lane, Surrey, 28. | |Roe Ashes, Hants, 213. | 73|=Romsey=, Hants, 86, 211, 220. A market town and parish, |containing 933 houses, and 4297 inhabitants; situated on the river |Test, which falls into Southampton bay; and the canal, from |Southampton to Andover, passes through the town. | |The church is a noble edifice, built in the form of a cross, and |is arched with stone of beautiful Saxon architecture; it contains |several curious and ancient monuments; but the most singular |curiosity is an apple tree growing on the leads of the roof, which |produces good fruit: the origin of this tree is not remembered by |the oldest inhabitant. | |The principal trade of this town is in the manufacture of sacking |and paper. The market is on Saturday. | 76|Romsey Common, Hants, 86. | 57|Rooks Hill, Sussex, 36. | 55|Ropley Dean, Hants, 83. | 53|Ropley Stoke, Hants, 83. | 254|Rosedale, Cornwall, 158. | 237|Rosewarick, Cornwall, 156.