RESTORATION HOUSE & ABDICATION HOUSE

Restoration House & Abdication House

Rochester is unique outside of London in having two buildings which represent the beginning and end of a specific period of Monarchy. That period is The Restoration between May 1660 and December 1688. King Charles II stayed at Restoration House in Crow Lane – which is where it’s name comes from – on 28th May 1660, the day before he reclaimed his throne in London. Beautifully and painstakingly restored by the current owners, Restoration House was described by Simon Jenkins (former editor of The Times) as ‘the finest Elizabethan family home in England’. It has limited opening times from June to September (Thursdays and Fridays only) and all proceeds are donated to a local charity at the end of each season.

Twenty Eight years later, his brother James VI of Scotland and II of England left the country and went into exile from the former Lloyds Bank building at 67-69 High Street. You’ll find a bronze plaque on the building to commemorate this event which happened on 23rd Dec 1688.