History

The school was founded in 1845 and it is shown on this site on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed in 1882). However plans for Rockfield School are known to exist, drawn by Sir Aston Webb, architect of London; he designed other buildings on the Hendre estate, as well as enlarging the main house before 1902. The Hendre was the home of the Rolls family who were pioneers of aviation and motoring. Although the origins of the school are C19 there are stylistic details that support a full remodelling and enlargement at the beginning of C20 by Aston Webb.

Exterior

Single-storey school building of red and brown sandstone rubble stone, coursed to front end and mostly snecked to rear, with slate roofs and red brick chimney stacks.
The gable end facing the road has distinctive, squared, bay window with deep coved cornice and dressed stone voussoirs over small-pane, 3-light, window; slit ventilator above and broken gable finial. Set back slightly on the S side wall is gabled porch with simply moulded bargeboards, pendant and finial, 4-centred arch entrance and blind 'slit' windows to sides; plaque within, referring to the founding of a school here in 1845 and a square-headed inner doorway with boarded door. This porch is balanced on the north side by a gabled projection with similar detail but 6-pane window in place of the doorway. Further to the rear in each side is a tall gabled window with a 4-pane sash and 2-pane overlight, and overlapping that on the S side is a short, lower, crosswing which has a boarded door in the re-entrant angle and a 4-pane sash in the S gable. Both these gables have barge boarding like the porch. Immediately R of the porch is a broad brick side-wall chimney stack with offsets. There is a similar chimney stack further to the rear on the other side, and between this and the gabled window is a square-headed doorway which was probably functionally related to a lean-to privy-house to the rear of the stack.

Interior

A rectangular hall with polygonal corbels to the purlined timber trusses which are ceiled at collar level; half-glazed partitions.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a small rural school, one of a series of buildings associated with the Hendre estate, and possibly designed by Sir Aston Webb.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29482878

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
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  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
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  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets