bridge itself has also been much altered for the best; both entrances having been widened, and three of the arches new built *. The bridge is in length five hundred and sixty feet, and fifteen in breadth. It is formed with eleven arches, of which the largest is more than forty feet, and most of them above thirty feet, wide. At one of the spaces there was formerly a drawbridge, and three of the arches were rebuilt a few years ago. The greatest water-way is three hundred and forty feet, and ten piers make one hundred and ninety feet at low water. The sterlings take up so much of the course, that there is left but two hundred and thirty feet for the tide of flood and ebb to act in. It has been a mistaken supposition that the bridge has been built upon a rock, but it is evident that the piers must rest upon piles, and the laying of the foundation of this fabric in so deep a river, and where there is a flux and reflux of so strong a tide, was an arduous undertaking; and its execution does great credit to the architect. Rochester bridge was one of the finest bridges in England, and esteemed among its greatest curiosities; and till Westminster Bridge was erected, London Bridge only could be brought into competition with it. Mr. Hawksmoor, the architect, remarked, that Rochester might be deemed a better bridge, because the arches were wider than those at London, and because it was not incommoded with houses. Before London Bridge was altered, the bridge at Rochester was unquestionably far more convenient for foot passengers, there being several large recesses in which they might stand with safety; and these recesses, as well as the other parts, having also a stone parapet, coped, and crowned with an iron ballustrade. Under the good management of the wardens for several years past, the estates have been duly attended to, and the increased revenue well applied. Sir John de Cobham, very soon after the new bridge, founded a perpetual chantry, denominated Alle-solven * Beauties of England. Chapel, Chapel, with an endowment of 181. per annum, payable out of the bridge lands, for supporting three priests. This is now a dwelling house, and the entrance into it is through a portico nearly opposite the east end of the bridge. In the apartment above the portico the muniments of the bridge are kept, and over the gateway of the Crown Inn is the audit-chamber, in which the wardens and assistants hold their meetings. A considerable part of the stone moulding of the Gothic door of the chapel is in good preservation, and on each side of the door are mouldings of the west windows, with pointed arches. Traces of the old windows in the east and south walls are discernable in the yard of the inn; and the house on the north side, in leases, has been usually called THE CHAPEL HOUSE, as having been the residence of the chaplains. By the rules established by the founders, there were to be three masses said every day; the first between five and six o'clock in the morning, the second between eight and nine, the third between eleven and twelve, to the end that travellers. might have the opportunity of being present at these divine offices, this being the principal cause for which the chantry was endowed. But at each mass there was to be a special collect for all living and dead benefactors to the bridge and chapel, and for the souls of Sir John Cobham and others, whose names were to be recited *. Immediately beneath the centre window is the following inscription: Custodes et Communitas pro sustentatione et Anno 1734. * There was another chapel at the west end of the bridge, but where placed is not known; chapels for the like purposes were not uncommonly fixed near bridges that were much frequented, and a custom is said to have obtained in Ireland, at the beginning of this century, for the natives at passing over a bridge, to pull off their hats or shew some other token of respect, and pray for the soul of the builder of the bridge. To To the right of the Audit Room, or Bridge House, are the magnificent remains of ROCHESTER CASTLE. The entrance to this stately ruin is behind the Crown Inn. Lambard thinks that the castle was the work of William the Conqueror, who erected such fortifications in England, to keep the English in obedience; hence we may conclude, that nearly eight hundred years have elapsed since the foundation of this building. Its present remains prove it to have been a strong fortification, especially when it is considered, that during the several conflicts betwixt the barons and the kings of England, this castle sustained many sieges. The architect is supposed to have been Gundulphus, bishop of Rochester. It stands on a small eminence near the river Medway, and is nearly of a quadrangular form; being about three hundred feet square within the walls, which are seven feet in thickness, and twenty feet in height. The sides of the castle were surrounded with a deep broad ditch, now nearly filled up, and the Medway. In the angles and sides of the castle still remain several square towers. But the chief attraction of a spectator, is, the noble tower standing in the south-east angle, so lofty, as to be seen distinctly at twenty miles distance. It is quadrangular; its sides parallel with the walls of the castle, about seventy feet square at the base, and the walls twelve feet thick. Adjoining to the east angle of the tower is a smaller, about two-thirds height of the large tower, and about twenty-eight feet square. The apartments are divided by a partition wall, from the bottom to the top, so that the rooms were twenty-one by forty-six feet on each floor. In this wall are arches by which a communication was opened from one room to the other. In the centre is a curious well, two feet nine inches diameter, by which every floor was supplied with water. On the north-east side of the tower is a descent, by steps, into a vault under the small tower, probably used as a prison. In the east angle there is a winding staircase, which ascends from the bottom to the top of the tower. In the west angle is |