NEWS Feb 2012

Our charity Status application is currently underway and we shall make an announcement soon.

We will also be moving in to our new offices at MHS homes Dockside soon. Big thankyou to MHS homes for their support.

About the group 

Restore Rochester Castle is a public inspired & led non-profit conservation and restoration group. We are dedicated to putting the future of Rochester Castle on firmer foundations. The castle has been slowly eroding for over four hundred years. Much of the fabric of the castle have been lost over the centuries. Sadly recent evidence indicates the decay has accelerated alarmingly. New cracks have appeared in the keeps towers and invasive safety netting is now required just to keep the castle open to visitors. You can help us by making an online donation below.

 

In January 2011 we entered negotiations with Medway Council and English Heritage to give the people of Medway a voice in the conservation and future restoration. The restoration of the floors and roof are now in future plans for the castle.

Since January 2011 we are the only public group allowed raise funds for research, conservation, restoration and improve the public experience through enhancements to the fabric at the keep.

In July 2011 the campaign group formally evolved into the primary fund raising body, with a new constitution and elected a new committee to drive forward fund raising efforts to raise the intial £40,000 required for the detailed study.

What are our future fund raising aims

Once the detailed assessment work has commenced we will begin to raise funds for a new Educational Centre which we aim to be free for all Medway School children. We will also look to raise the money for the essential conservation work that will enable the removal of the invasive safety netting which is detracting from the publics perception of the keep.

Quote English Heritage funding application 2008 - 'To ameliorate (to improve or to restore) the serious loss of historic detail caused by water ingress, to ascertain the true condition of the upper portions of the keep’s walls, to set in train the systematic monitoring of the condition of the keep and to thereby identify a long-term solution to the keep’s considerable conservation problems'.

Sadly this funding was never approved and to save our castle the people of Medway must join together working with our Council to save our greatest treasure. After all, it's Your Castle.

What can I do?

If you want to get more involved in helping to save one of the greatest Norman keeps ever built then please do use the 'Contact Us'  page.

We very much welcome the support of Medway Businesses, Public, Volunteers as the future of the castle and increased tourism will have a significant impact on local businesses, future employment and give a improved educational experience for the school children of Medway. Also the restoration of the roof and repair of some elements of the stonework offer unique training and skills opportunities to our young people in medway. Longer term once restored we will need people with the expertise to maintain the castle and who better to do that than the people of medway themselves.

If you wish to sponsor this group, make a donation, offer your services, give us a message of support then please do just click on whatever you want to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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