The Vines

The Vines. . , These gardens are called The Vines because in the medieval period, the area was cultivated by monks as a vineyard., In 1077, Gundulf was ordained Bishop of Rochester. He founded the Benedictine Priory of St Andrew the apostle, at Rochester Cathedral for 22 monks., Gundulf was a great bishop, architect and administrator. He oversaw the construction of the cathedral at Rochester and the White Tower in the Tower of London. He also founded St Bartholomew's hospital in Rochester, which still exists today. According to the Rules of St Benedict, the monks' first duty was to praise God, which meant participating in several daily services in the cathedral., The monks had to swear a vow of obedience, lead a simple life, care for the sick, be celibate and were required to do five hours of physical work a day to be completely self sufficient. This meant producing all the food and drink they needed from inside the priory grounds, this included grapes from the vines and wine from the grapes., Very few people could read or write at this time but the monasteries were centres of learning. Between 1122 and 1124 a scribe at Rochester wrote down the laws of England and the rights of Rochester Cathedral in a book called the Textus Roffensis., This is the earliest book that records English laws in the local language- English, not Latin., It has survived and can be viewed online on the British Library website. The Dean and Chapter of Rochester Cathedral still own The Vines today and have leased it to the council as a public open space since 1880. , , One of Britain's rare insects lives within The Vines , It may look dangerous but the Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus) is harmless. It is Britain's biggest beetle and can grow up to 90mm long. The male beetles have enormous jaws, which look a bit like stag antlers. Stag beetles can fly. You may see them flying at dusk in the summer months. Once they have mated, the female lays her eggs in rotting wood. The larvae feed on rotting wood and a stag beetle habitat made of logs has been put into The Vines to help encourage this endangered insect. Stag beetle larvae can take three to seven years to grow before turning into adult beetles (rotting wood is not very nutritious). If you see one, please leave it alone but do let the Great Stag Hunt website know what you have seen (www.ptes.org).