The church of Strood, restored in 1812, is without interest, but close
to the churchyard is the site of a Hospital, founded, in the time of
Richard I., who endowed it, by Bishop Glanville of Rochester. This
place must have been known to Chaucer and his pilgrims. It was
dedicated in honour of Our Lady and cared for "the poor, weak, infirm
and impotent as well as neighbouring inhabitants or travellers from
distant places, until they die or depart healed." Those who served it
followed the Benedictine Rule. A singular example of the hatred of
these for the monks of Rochester appears in the story of the fight
between the monks and the Hospital staff with whom sided the men of
Strood and Frinsbury, a village hard by, which took place in the
orchard of the Hospital. The Bishop, however, soon brought all to
reason, and as a punishment the men of Strood were obliged to go in
procession to Rochester upon each Whit-Monday, carrying the clubs with
which they had assaulted the monks.
[Illustration: THE GATEWAY OF THE MONASTERY CLOSE, ROCHESTER]
That Strood stood on the ancient way its name assures us, since it is
but another form of Street or Strada, as they say in Italy.
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