A happy visit (to some of the cathedral, not all of it)
2.5
2.5
Date of visit: January 2015
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet
Overall Rating
Average
Good accessibility but currently a huge area of the cathedral not available to wheelchair users or anyone unable to manage stairs.
Disabled Access In and Around
Poor
Step-free access to the cathedral is via a passageway off the high street. I was able to get around all the lower areas of the cathedral easily in my wheelchair. But the raised east end of the cathedral is currently only accessible via a flight of stairs. A lift is promised, but work has stalled because in digging a lift shaft to the crypt they came across a Norman wall, which apparently - although it has been invisible for centuries - is suddenly more important than access for today's living people. Most annoying.
Parking & Transport
Average
I came by train. Rochester station has friendly helpful staff. But they didn't tell St Pancras that I would be appearing at the end of my return journey to London. So: no ramp assistance at St Pancras. Luckily the train guard was able to deploy a ramp for me. But the communication failure between Rochester & St Pancras was annoying.
Accessible Toilets
Excellent
An absolutely perfect accessible toilet right inside the cathedral, with everything laid out just right, plenty of space, clean, tidy, and the emergency cord the right length and not tied up out of reach. One comical oddity: to reach the accessible toilet you have to pass through what appears to be a kitchen area. But this doesn't affect my five-star toilet rating.
Staff
Excellent
Lovely 'staff' (is that the right word in a cathedral?), friendly, informative, helpful, and one woman in particular was a live wire, great fun to chat with.
Additional Information
The turrets on the west end of the cathedral are a special and charming feature.
