Rochester-upon-Medway was a local government district in north

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1974 to 1998. It covered Rochester, Chatham, Luton, Lordswood, Walderslade, Strood and the Hoo Peninsula. The district was formed as the

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Medway under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

and city of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, the borough of

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

and most of

Strood Rural District Strood Rural District was a rural district in the county of Kent, England. It was subject to boundary reforms in 1934 and 1935. It consisted of the following civil parishes:http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10074137&c_id ...

. The district council was granted a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

entitling it to be known as the Borough of Medway, and preserving the mayoralties of Rochester and Chatham.

Name change and city status

On creation in 1974 the new Medway Borough Council applied to inherit the

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

, but this was refused. Instead, special

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

were granted on 18 March 1974, which declared that the existing area would continue to constitute the City of Rochester, notwithstanding its abolition as a local government authority. In rejecting the council's application, the Home Office noted that it might be possible to extend city status to the entire borough in the future, provided that "Rochester" feature in its name. On 3 December 1979 the Medway Borough Council passed a resolution renaming the district as the Borough of Rochester-upon-Medway, and on 25 January 1982 further letters patent were issued declaring that in future:

...the whole of the said Borough and not the said part of the Borough as heretofore should have the name style and status of a City...

Accordingly the district became the City of Rochester-upon-Medway.

Abolition

Following a review by the Local Government Commission for England, the city was abolished on 1 April 1998, when it was merged with the neighbouring Borough of Gillingham to form a new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

. An inadvertent effect of the 1998 abolition was the ending of Rochester's historic city status, due to the failure of the outgoing city council to appoint

charter trustees In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established. Duties are ...

. This only became apparent in 2002.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochester-upon-Medway, City of Former non-metropolitan districts of Kent Medway Districts of England established in 1974 Former boroughs in England 1998 disestablishments in England

Name change and city status

Abolition

See also

References

External links