j    Roch.—river, Lancashire; rises near the border of

| Yorkshire, and flows 12 miles SAV., past Rochdale, to
the Irwell 2% miles S. of Bury.—2. Roch (or Rnpa),
par. and vil., Pembrokeshire, 6% miles NAV. of Haver-
fordwest, 4603 ac., pop. 536 ; P.O.; Roch ½astle (13th
century), a picturesque ruin, overlooking St Brides
Bay, was garrisoned by the Royalists in the Civil War.

Rochdale, pari, and mun. bor. and par., SE. Lanca-
shire, on river Roch and Rochdale Canal, 10 miles NE.
of Manchester and 192 from London by rail—par. (in-
cluding Saddleworth township, West-Riding Yorkshire),
60,626 ac., pop. 153,448; bor., 4172 ac., pop. 68,866;
5 Banks, 3 newspapers. Market-days, Monday and
Saturday. Rochdale is a place of great antiquity;
there was a Roman station in the vicinity. It was
early noted for its woollen mfrs., which in the time of
Elizabeth had attained to great prosperity ; it is still a
seat of the woollen trade, chiefly flannels, but to a
greater extent it is a seat of the cotton trade, chiefly
calicoes ; it has also foundries, machine shops, a paper-
mill, &c., and in the neighbourhood are quarries of free-
stone and pavement, and extensive collieries. Several
of the old streets have of late years been widened out,
and the appearance of the town has been much im-
proved. The parish church (St Chad’s), of 12th century,
situated on an eminence, is approached from the lower
part of the town by a flight of 122 steps. There are
public baths and a free library. Rochdale is the centre
of the co-operative movement, which originated there
in 1844. Lord Byron’s family were barons of Rochdale,
and held the manor for more than 200 years. It was
made a pari. bor. in 1832, and a municipal bor. in 1856.
It returns 1 member to Parliament.

Rochdale Canal, Lancashire and AVest-Riding York-
shire ; extends from the Bridgwater Canal at Man-
chester to the Calder and Hebble navigation at Sowerby
Bridge near Halifax ; is 31% m. long, and has 78 locks.

Roche, par. and vil., Cornwall, near Victoria sta. and
Smiles NW. of St Austell, 6471 ac., pop. 1681; P.O.,
T.O.; stream tin and porcelain clay are worked; the
Roche Rocks, with ruins of ancient hermitage chapel,
are 680 ft. high; St Roche’s Well, adjacent, was a
‘ ‘ wishing well. ”

Roche, par., N. co. Louth, on river Castletown, 4
miles NAV. of Dundalk, 3305 ac., pop. 826.

Roche Abbey, ruin, Maltby par., S. div. West-Riding
Yorkshire, in the grounds of Sandbeck Park, 8 miles E.
of Rotherham; was founded about 1147 for Cistercian
monks, who were here called Monachi de Rupe.

Rocbe Castle, ruin, near Laugharne, Carmarthenshire.

Rocbe Court, seat, near Fareham, Hants.

Roche Pen (I ante (or Hanging Rock), huge isolated
mass of sandstone rock, on E. coast of Alderney, Channel
Islands.

Roche Point, on E. side of entrance to Cork Har-
bour, S. co. Cork; has a lighthouse 49 ft. high, with
occulting light (Cork Harbour, or Queenstown) 98 ft.
above high water and seen 10 miles, and fixed light
60 ft. above high water and seen 8 miles.

Rochester.—city, pari, and mun. bor., par., river
port and market town, Kent, on river Medway, on W.
side of Chatham, and 30 miles SE. of London by rail—
par., 2620 ac., pop. 13,890; bor. (extending into the
pars, of Chatham, Frindsbury, Strood, and AA’ffuldham),
2909 ac. and 11,768 tidal water and foreshore (being the
whole of the river Medway from Hawk Wood, in the
par. of Burnham, to Sheerness), pop. 21,307 ; 2 Banks,

1 newspaper. Market-day, Friday. Communication
between Rochester and Strood is maintained by means
of an iron swing bridge. Rochester was a place of
great importance to Britons, Romans, and Saxons.
The see was founded by Ethelbert, who, about 604,
commenced the cathedral. The castle was built in the
reign of the Conqueror ; the keep still remains, situated
on an abrupt eminence, surrounded by public gardens.
Rochester has a large implement manufactory, some
fisheries, especially of oysters, some shipbuilding, and
trade in coal. (For shipping statistics, see Appendix.)
Many of the inhabitants are employed in the dockyards
of Chatham. Rochester was made a mun. bor. by
Henry II., and a pari. bor. by Edward I. It returns 1
member to Parliament; it returned 2 members until
1885.—2. Rochester, township and vil. (High Roch-

Gazetteer of the British Isles, Statistical and Topographical, by John Bartholomew, F.R.G.S.

Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1887. Public domain image from Gedcomindex.com