One of the oldest buildings in Medway has sold at auction for £46,000, more than £20,000 over its asking price. In desperate need of repair, St Bartholomew’s Chapel, in Rochester’s High Street, is the only remaining part of the original St Bartholomew’s Hospital, founded in 1078 by Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, for the ‘poor and leperous’.
The current hospital was built in 1863 in New Road, about 50 yards away, while the chapel was renovated by Sir G Gilbert Scott in 1896. Now, hopefully, its new owner will restore it sympathetically and, more to the point, stop it deteriorating further.