“Few people with eyes that see can pass along the Vines westward, without casting an interested gaze at the strange and homely house where resides the Archdeacon of Rochester….the house is architecturally so informal that it invites comment.”
How The Story Began
As you admire the inviting fireplaces and winding staircases and explore the many nooks and crannies of The Vines of Rochester, it’s impossible not to be transported back to another time.
Retaining many original features from different periods across the centuries, it can feel as though the walls of this stunning Grade II Listed property have a thousand stories to tell, buried deep inside.
Formerly known as the Old Archdeaconry, it is one of Rochester’s more prominent historic houses, likely to have been built for Archdeacon John Lee all the way back in 1661. His was a timber-framed dwelling, the remnants of which survive in the centre of the present building. Being the oldest part of the house, it is also the most altered, with a new Georgian façade added in the middle of the 18th century.
Lee’s house was built at the southern limit of Rochester Cathedral priory’s outer court, on land acquired by the priory during medieval times – land that was enclosed by a new length of the city wall in the 14th century. Some of this ancient wall can still be found and viewed in the rear garden of The Vines of Rochester, today.
The property continued to be used as the Archdeacon’s residence over the years, enlarged and added to over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in particular. An early eighteenth-century staircase at the rear and two Adam fireplaces in the south wing are among a wide range of intricate features of archaeological interest still in-tact.
The property has now been lovingly-restored and refurbished, with new basement and external extensions complementing the many stunning period features inside and out.
Each bedroom and space, has been individually-designed and styled, with a real ‘wow’ factor throughout.
The family run business has given The Old Archdeaconry a new lease of life and in newly-named The Vines of Rochester they hope to have created something Rochester can be proud of for many years to come. They now look forward to welcoming you inside and inviting you to be part of the latest chapter of this amazing property’s fascinating story.