Rockside Hall

Rockside Hall

A college hall of residence at the time of listing, formerly a hydropathic establishment. The building was constructed around 1860 and extensively developed by the architects Parker and Unwin between 1901 and 1905 in the Art Nouveau style. Further extensions were added in 1923 and 1928, and the building was converted to college use around 1950. It is constructed of coursed rubble with ashlar and red brick dressings, some rendered sections, and plain tile roofs.

The original mid-19th-century block forms a three-storey structure with a seven-bay south front featuring ashlar coped gables with kneelers and two ashlar gable stacks. This front retains some original glazing bar sashes alongside 20th-century casements.

The principal extension, designed by Parker and Unwin, rises to five storeys plus an attic and projects seven bays to the south from the east end of the original building. This wing is distinguished by continuous ashlar lintel bands and pronounced stone buttresses rising the full height, topped by tall brick stacks with chamfered ashlar caps. The upper floor is jettied and rendered. All windows in this block are glazing bar cross casements, many featuring shallow canted bay windows set within the wall surface.

The south entrance front includes a single central doorway with windows above, flanked by octagonal corner turrets that project above the roofline. These towers are surmounted by hipped roofs crowned with octagonal wooden cupolas. Projecting eastward from the north corner is a two-storey block containing three large round-arched ashlar openings on the ground floor—the left arch forming a doorway and the two right arches containing double carriage doors. An overhanging tent-like glazed canopy of wood and metal sits above. The upper floor is a conservatory, probably added in 1923, with a curved glass roof.

The eastern entrance features central glazed double doors with similar part-glazed side panels; elongated scroll brackets mark the corners. A stepped three-storey mid-19th-century wing, rendered and fitted with margin light sashes, projects northward from the eastern corner of the original block. The rear range facing Cavendish Road was built in 1928, comprising three storeys and ten bays, topped with a parapet and small square tower to the west and a larger square tower to the east. This block is also rendered.

The north street front has an off-centre doorway to the left with a small window beyond, followed by three larger windows, two garage doors, and another door. Above are ten large windows on the second floor and a further ten on the third floor. All these windows retain their original metal-frame glazing bar casements beneath ashlar chamfered lintels. A single-storey gymnasium building, probably also designed by Parker and Unwin, stands to the rear.

The interior retains its original staircases and many original fittings, including fireplaces and corner cupboards with metal hinges. Many of these fittings are decorated with heart-shaped Art Nouveau-style motifs.