Rock House, 5 The Square, Rostrevor, Co.Down

Rock House is a townhouse located at 5 The Square in Rostrevor, County Down. It dates to approximately 1810 and is a Grade B listed building situated within the Rostrevor Conservation Area.

The building first appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834, though structures are shown in this general vicinity on an estate map of 1767. The first valuation book of 1835 records that the present number 5 and its lower western neighbour, number 3, formed a single property at that date, although it is likely they were originally separate buildings. The taller number 5 has the appearance of a structure of circa 1810.

In 1835, the combined property was occupied by William John Maguire Esquire, a member of the clergy and gentry of Rostrevor listed in Pigot's 1824 Directory. The valuation records describe the buildings as comprising a main section measuring 52 by 24½ by 20 feet, with returns of 16 by 11 by 16 feet, 36 by 18 by 20 feet and 19½ by 17 by 13 feet. There was a basement storey of 27 by 24 by 8 feet, and offices (outbuildings) of 46 by 17 by 13 feet, 28 by 10 by 6½ feet, with a further office under the house of 24½ by 13½ by 10 feet.

By 1861, the house was leased by Jane Nunn, and thereafter passed through several occupants including Reverend Blackburn (1872), John William Beggs (1873), Miss Charlotte Moore (1876), and Henry George Ramadge (1880). In 1887, the building was divided into two separate houses. The present number 5 was initially occupied by Hugh Graham, who in the 1901 census was recorded as a 49-year-old manager of a linen factory, residing here with his wife Emily, seven children, and a domestic servant. The house was noted as a second-class dwelling with 9 rooms in use. The Graham family remained until circa 1924, when the property passed through subsequent occupants: Mary Jane Green, Reverend Anthony Drought (1926), Nora Livingstone (before 1935), and Mary Eardley (1953), who was still resident in 1972.

The Square and Church Street developed as part of the upgrading of the road linking Rostrevor to Hilltown in the 1760s under the direction of Wills Hill, later 1st Marquis of Downshire. Its generous breadth and name suggest it was intended to function as a marketplace. In April 1769, Robert Ross, Rostrevor's then landlord, obtained a patent allowing him to hold a weekly market and quarterly fairs. The 1836 Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe the street as running northeast and southwest for 620 yards, with the portion between the new and old church spanning 180 yards at a breadth of 120 feet, the remainder averaging 30 feet wide. Houses were predominantly two storeys high and mostly in good order, with many providing furnished lodgings for summer visitors.