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

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from 1974 to

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. It covered Rochester, Chatham, Luton, Lordswood, Walderslade,

Strood Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. Strood forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Kent, Chatham, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham and Rainham, Kent, Rainham. It ...

and the

Hoo Peninsula The Hoo Peninsula is a peninsula in Kent, England, separating the estuaries of the rivers Thames and Medway. It is dominated by a line of chalk, clay and sand hills, surrounded by an extensive area of marshland composed of alluvial silt. The ...

. 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

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 A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

and city of Rochester, the borough of Chatham and most of Strood Rural District. 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 ...

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 monarch, 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, ci ...

of Rochester, but this was refused. Instead, special

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

were granted on 18

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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 The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

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

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 type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

. 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. This only became apparent in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

References

{{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