Rockley in the olden days....

Looking at the old map that must be overlooking Rockley Dam - including the circular island in the middle; the dam wall and bridge must be to the left.

 

Which one? The dam is on one of the ponds along Rockley Dyke which feeds the main res. The Woodhouse was on the Serpentine up towards Wentworth castle.

 

If the serpentine is that just down from the Northern College building - with the restored bridge, near the circular mausoleum - then it's a different body of water. Rockley Wood House is marked on a map adjacent to Rockley dam in a clearing on the northern edge of Frial Tail Wood which doesn't seem to exist on modern OS maps though nearby "The Old Park" wood does.

This is the map page link http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html

 

That's probably right. My research said south of the serpentine, by that I assumed it overlooked that body of water. I'll have a good look at that later, cheers.