Restoration House, Rochester
The visit will explore the rich history of Rochester in Kent, with visits to the Huguenot Museum which traces the fascinating history of Huguenot enterprise in England, and the splendid Restoration House with its long history dating back to the medieval period.
Details
Venue
Victoria Station, Victoria Street, London SW1E 5ND
Event Organisers
Sarah Bowles and Philippa Barton
Cost
Cost of the visit is £115 to include lunch - plus Eventbrite booking fee
Programme
09.25 am
Meet at Victoria Station
09.40 am
Train departs for Rochester, Kent
10.30 am
Visit to the Huguenot Museum, Rochester with Tessa Murdoch, Acting Chair and Trustee of the Huguenot Museum
The Museum is dedicated to the story of Huguenot refugees, fleeing persecution in France, from the 1500s to the early 1700s. More than 50,000 settled in England, where they made a great impact with their extraordinary skills in crafts such as silk weaving, silversmithing, clockmaking, bookbinding and other occupations including banking, medicine and the military. Much of the Huguenot Museum’s collection is on loan from The French Hospital, an almshouse charity in Rochester founded in London in 1718 by Royal Charter.
12.30 pm
Lunch
2.15 pm
Visit to Restoration House with Robert Tucker
Restoration House takes its name from a visit made by Charles II when on his way to London from exile in Europe in May 1660. This splendid house is made up of two separate medieval dwellings, which were linked by a Great Hall and Chamber in the early seventeenth century by the Clerk family, who also added the red-brick façade. The present owners have been restoring the house and researching its history since acquiring it nearly thirty years ago and have uncovered many original features and fascinating decorative detail, as well as filling it with a wonderful collection of furniture, paintings and objects. The large walled garden is equally filled with all manner of delights.
5.08 pm
Train departs for London Victoria, arriving 5.51 pm
The cost of the visit is £115.00 to include lunch