ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL CHAPTER ESTATE RECORDS

CCRc

1349-1946

fonds

This collection comprises records relating to the estate of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester that were first transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in the 1860s. They were deposited with the Kent Archives Office by the Church Commissioners, the successor body to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, in the 1960s-1970s, and later transferred to Medway Archives Centre. Earlier estate records were not transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, but remained in the custody of the clerk to the Dean and Chapter. They were subsequently deposited with the Kent Archives Office directly, and likewise later transferred to Medway Archives Centre (see collections DRc (Priory) and DRc (Dean and Chapter)). Other records relating to the estate of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester that were transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and subsequently deposited with the Kent Archives Office are still to be found at the Kent History and Library Centre (collections CCRa and CCRb).

The estate of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester was not confined to the Diocese of Rochester, for almost as much lay in the Diocese of Canterbury, as far east as the Isle of Thanet, as in Rochester. There was also a little property in London, Surrey and Buckinghamshire. Much of the estate consisted of parsonages, and there was considerable urban property in Chatham, Rochester and Strood. Part of the estate was surveyed in 1623 (see CCRc/E3), and the whole by Parliament in 1649 (CCRc/E4). Many later terriers have also survived; some are to be found among the estate papers (CCRc/E5-E7), while others remain with the title deeds.

A paper copy of the original Church Commissioners' registry list is held by Medway Archives Centre, arranged numerically by a six digit number. This list contains less property information but does give other details, such as many of the parties of deeds and deed types. To enable cross-referencing the relevant number(s) are recorded for individual files as "Church Commissioners' registry number".