Rock & Sons
Rock & Sons were a coach manufacturer on White Rock, who designed and constructed a number of prestigious carriages including a State Carriage for the Lord Mayor of London [1]. Their premises featured a lift which conveyed carriages up to the entrance on White Rock Gardens in order they could bypass the difficult route around the headland that was just east of the site. This lift is Grade II Listed (Historic England listing 1268253) and described in the listing thus[2]:
Lift Shaft and Winding Mechanism to rear of numbers 40/41 White Rock
GV II Lift shaft and winding mechanism, later garage. Erected between 1875 and 1899 as a carriage hoist to the showroom and workshops of Rock and Sons Carriage manufacturers. This is a rectangular structure extending 3 storeys up from the former workshops at the rear of 40/41 White Rock. Lower part red brick in English bond, the upper part cement rendered with top storey weatherboarded over timberframe, the weatherboarding missing in places. Hipped slate roof. Wooden double doors at ground floor level. Interior contains cast iron winding gear in the upper storey comprising two 8 spoke 4 ft diameter cast iron gear wheels, cranking shaft and 2ft diameter brake wheel.
Perhaps their best known carriage was the Dioropha which was patented and exhibited widely - the carriage receiving medals at an international exhibition in London during 1851 and again in Paris during 1856[3]. The Dioropha was described as a "dual-purpose carriage for gentry-folk, which could be used either as an open 'Victoria with folding hood, or as a closed-in box-like the 'Clarence/. The latter body could be lifted off by a pulley attached to the coach-house roof"[4].
The firm's premises served as the home of James Rock Jr. between 1841 and 1856. The junior Rock developed an interest in railway carriages and designed a number of such vehicles and safety buffers. Entering politics in 1851, James Rock Jr. became a councillor for the town and later became Mayor twice. Following his marriage, he moved to The Heath in Fairlight Road.
It was possible to rent carriages from Rock & Sons and take them as far as London, the carriages presumably being returned via the railway[5].
Images
- Images
The-rear-of-the-former-Coach-Works-of-Rock-Son1885.
View-of-the-America-Ground-and-Hastings-from-the-Coastguard-station-at-White-Rock.-1858.
References & Notes
- ↑ Brett Manuscript Histories Vol. 7 Chap. 60 Pg. 79
- ↑ Historic England Entry 1268253
- ↑ Brett Manuscript Histories Vol. 10. Chapter 68 Pg. 40
- ↑ Friends of Hastings Cemetery Rock pg.3
- ↑ Hastings Pier Archive: Carriage at Hastings Station
