Diocese of Rochester , Church of England

The medieval diocese of Rochester consisted of Kent west of the Medway. It was divided into the rural deaneries of Rochester, Dartford and Malling, which together formed the archdeaconry of Rochester. The rural deanery of Shoreham was a peculiar jurisdiction of the archbishop of Canterbury. The boundaries of the diocese were radically changed in 1845 when the rural deaneries of Dartford, Malling and Shoreham, with the except for a few parishes, were absorbed into the diocese of Canterbury, and the rural deanery of Rochester with a few neighbouring parishes were joined with the counties of Essex and Hertfordshire to form a new diocese of Rochester. There were further boundary alterations in 1877, when Essex and Hertfordshire were formed into the new diocese of St. Albans, and Rochester comprised the north-western part of Kent together with London south of the Thames. In 1905 the London section of the diocese was separated to form a new diocese of Southwark and the boundaries between the diocese of Canterbury and Rochester adjusted so that since that date the diocese has covered roughly the same area as that which it covered in 1845.

The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Church of England Diocese of Rochester is the second oldest Cathedral Foundation in England and was founded in 604 by Bishop Justus. The present building was built in 1077 by Bishop Gundolf, who also designed the Tower of London and Rochester Castle.

Parishes in east and mid Surrey in the Dioceses of London and Winchester were transferred to Rochester in 1878.