Rock Hall, Northumberland
Encyclopedia
Rock Hall is a privately-owned 18th-century country house, now occupied by a school, at Rock
Rock, Northumberland
Rock is a village in Northumberland, England about north of Alnwick.The single street has on one side cottages and gardens; on the other, an ornamental lake. At the end is a little Norman church; and beyond that, the battlements and towers of Rock Hall...

, Rennington
Rennington
Rennington is a village in Northumberland, England about north of Alnwick.- Governance :Rennington is in the parliamentary constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed.-External links:*...

, near Alnwick
Alnwick
Alnwick is a small market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8000 at the time of the 2001 census and Alnwick's district population was 31,029....

, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

 . It is a Grade II* listed building.

The Manor of Rock was owned by several Northumbrian families, Rock, Swinhoe, Lawson, Salkeld (1620-1705), Proctor and Holford, until the marriage of Charlotte Holford, heiress of Rock, brought the estate into the Bosanquet family.
There was a house on the estate from the 14th century which was possibly converted to a tower house in the 15th century and which was remodelled by the Salkelds in the 17th century.

The house was badly damaged by fire in 1752, but was restored about 1820 by Charles Bosanquet (High Sheriff of Northumberland
High Sheriff of Northumberland
This is a list of the High Sheriffs of the English county of Northumberland.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post...

 in 1828) when architect John Dobson
John Dobson (architect)
John Dobson was a 19th-century English architect in the neoclassical tradition. He became the most noted architect in the North of England. Churches and houses by him dot the North East - Nunnykirk Hall, Meldon Park, Mitford Hall, Lilburn Tower, St John the Baptist Church in Otterburn,...

 created a new and unusual south front with two semi-octagonal bays. A new north-west wing was added by architect F.R. Wilson in the mid 19th century.

Members of the Bosanquet family born at Rock include scientist Robert Bosanquet
Robert Holford Macdowall Bosanquet
Robert Holford Macdowall Bosanquet was an English scientist and music theorist, and brother of Admiral Sir Day Bosanquet, and philosopher Bernard Bosanquet....

, Admiral Sir Day Bosanquet
Day Bosanquet
Admiral Sir Day Hort Bosanquet GCVO, KCB was the Governor of South Australia from 18 February 1909 until 22 March 1914.-Naval career:Born in Alnwick in Northumberland, Bosanquet joined the Royal Navy in 1857...

 and philosopher Bernard Bosanquet
Bernard Bosanquet (philosopher)
Bernard Bosanquet was an English philosopher and political theorist, and an influential figure on matters of political and social policy in late 19th and early 20th century Britain...

.

In 1881 the estate comprised 1130 acres (4.6 km²) employing 44 staff on the land and 11 in the house.

From the mid 20th century the house was let out for use as a Youth Hostel and more recently as a Preparatory School.
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