The Rock

The Rock is a house located on the Black Hall estate, built around 1840 to 1845. It is not shown on the 1840 Black Hall estate map. The building is constructed of rendered stone rubble, with a rough rendered front that has been blocked out. It features a U-shaped roof made of scantle slate, hipped at the front with deep eaves and two gables at the back. The house has moulded cast iron gutters and two large rendered axial stacks symmetrically placed at the back ridges, along with a kitchen stack over the rear right-hand gable.

The layout consists of a square double depth plan with two main front rooms and a central entrance passage that originally housed the stairs. There are small service rooms at the back, with the kitchen on the right and a pantry on the left. In the 20th century, the stairs were relocated from the passage to the back, left of centre, and the pantry was subdivided to include a lavatory, with outshuts added at the rear.

The exterior is two storeys high with a symmetrical three-bay south front. The first floor features the original early 19th-century 16-pane sash windows in exposed boxing, while the ground floor windows have been replaced with 12-pane sashes that include horns. The central doorway has the original six-panel door, with the bottom panels flush, the middle panels glazed, and a ten-pane rectangular overlight above. There is a 19th-century open porch supported by slender granite columns and pilasters that hold up an entablature with a moulded cornice. On the right and left returns, there are two 19th-century 16-pane sashes towards the back.

Inside, the left-hand room has an original simple white marble chimneypiece, while the right-hand room features a 20th-century tiled fireplace surround. The house retains simple original 19th-century joinery, including six-panel doors and panelled internal window shutters. There is a 20th-century staircase at the back of the passage.