Gundulf of Rochester
| Gundulf | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rochester | |
| Appointed | 1075 |
| Term ended | 7 March 1108 |
| Predecessor | Arnost |
| Successor | Ralph d'Escures |
| Other posts | monk of St. Etienne in Caen |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 19 March 1077 |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 7 March 1108 |
| Denomination | Catholic |
Gundulf (or Gundulph) was a Norman monk who went to England following the Conquest. He was appointed Bishop of Rochester and Prior of the Cathedral Priory there. He built several castles, including Rochester, Colchester and the White Tower of the Tower of London and the Priory and Cathedral Church of Rochester.
Gundulf was a monk of Bec Abbey in Normandy and a friend, pupil and also chamberlain of Lanfranc. He was a monk of St. Etienne in Caen before he went to England in 1070, as one of several clergy from Bec and St Etienne. He was one of the most important of those chosen by Lanfranc to help him with the reorganisation of English monasticism, as Lanfranc had been charged to do, following his appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury by King William I.
In 1075 at Lanfranc's instigation, King William I agreed to the appointment of Gundulf as Bishop of Rochester and Gundulf was consecrated on 19 March 1077. Earlier that year Lanfranc had recovered much of the lands once belonging to St. Andrews Church at Rochester from the king's half-brother Odo and when Gundulf was enthroned Lanfranc endowed much of this property back to the church. This restored income enabled Gundulf to start reconstruction work on the almost derelict church building in 1080.
In 1078 King William used Gundulf's skill in the construction of the White Tower: the keep of the Tower of London, he was described as "competent and skilled at building in stone and was the principle overseer and surveyor of the White Tower of London"; also the castle at Colchester which was started around 1080. Colchester is attributed to Gundulf on the basis of the similarity in plan and design to the White Tower. In 1080 he was responsible for St. Leonard's Tower which became the tower of the monastic cell of St. Leonard's, belonging to Malling Abbey. Sometime around 1092 Gundulf founded the abbey of St Mary's, at West Malling, Kent for Benedictine nuns. He was also responsible for the founding of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Rochester, the chapel of which is original and still extant.
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