Rochester

Rochester was the town we went through to visit Leeds Castle.  It also has one very significant former resident.  Can you guess from the shop names?

Yep, Charles Dickens was raised near Rochester and owned a home in a nearby village later in life.  Many of the locations in his stories (Great Expectations, the Pickwick Papers) were inspired by places in Rochester.  This house was supposed to be the inspiration for the home of Miss Haversham in Great Expectations. 

The town boasts a really lovely church.  The high street is full of charm, like the shops pictured above. Our tour guide also told us that the city has a mandate that all the shops on the high street must be locally owned - so no Starbucks or McDonalds or Boots here. 

Finally, there is a castle.  The city of Rochester sits on the Medway River and was very significant during Roman times.  A road from the coast of England passed over a bridge in Rochester and continued up to Londinium (Roman London).  The original bridge is long gone, but there has been a bridge in the location for over 1600 years.  The castle was built by the Normans to defend the area from invasions from France and continental Europe.