A 900-year-old landmark will be restored after a fundraising campaign to save it from falling apart hit its £50,000 target.

Work is due to start next month on repairing the Bishop's Gate at Rochester Cathedral, one of the oldest surviving features of the historic site.

Surveys carried out in 2017 found crumbling mortar binding masonry on the top of the 12th century structure was unsafe and unstable.

The whole section on the upper part was removed and stones put into storage.

The Rochester Cathedral Trust has been trying to raise funds to ensure the stones can be safely replaced in the exact same order in which they were removed after being carefully lifted up, numbered and stored.

Permission to restore the Grade I listed landmark – used as an entrance from the old Bishop's Palace – was received from English Heritage in 2018.

Simon Lace, executive director and chapter clerk for the Rochester Cathedral Trust, said: "It's important to restore the gate as it's part of the Grade I listed structure and an important part of the history of Rochester, especially as almost all of the rest of the Palace has gone, and the site has been built over.

"The Rochester Cathedral Trust has been very proactive in raising funds for a number of our restoration projects and the balance outstanding after the successful online art auction has come from their reserves.

"We're obviously delighted that we can restore the Bishop's Gate and safeguard this outstanding piece of Rochester's history, especially as it represents such an important part of the lost heritage of the city."

The gate – also known as the Cellarer's Gate – was built as part of the medieval complex which housed the Bishop's Palace on the site to the right hand side of the Cathedral opposite the Bishop's Gate.

It is thought it was built before the Norman period due to references of it being rebuilt following a fire in 1179 which badly damaged the cathedral.

Mr Lace added: "There is another reference to the Palace being rebuilt and referred to as the "new palace" in 1459.

"The Bishop's Gate would have provided access from the Palace into the Cathedral's closed cloister. It also gave access to the areas where the monastery's provisions were stored and looked after by the Cellarer."

An auction held online in June helped raise £15,000 towards the project with 39 lots including a signed book by artist Damien Hirst.

More than 30 artists donated artworks with 3,000 visitors to the website during the six days it was open for.

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