Rocking Hall

Rocking Hall is an old Shooting Lodge in the middle of Barden Moor in North Yorkshire. It was built in 1758 for the Bolton Abbey Estate. A shooting lodge is a place which hosts shooting parties in comfort and style.

The first time you see Rocking Hall is from the moor road as 2 tiny dots on the far horizon. It is miles from anywhere and it looks very eerie.

It was a very cold November day last year when my granddad, his friend Trevor and I parked at a little layby on the road and set off up the old track to the Hall. We walked past a farm and went over a stile, and carried on along the track.

We came across a stream and a small, round building that was ruined. We didn’t know what it was used for, but we took some photos of it.

We found a large puddle that was iced over, and a frog was slipping on top of it. I broke the ice with my foot and the frog swam away.

Eventually we reached the Hall, which was surrounded by a square wall. There was an old abandoned barn behind the Hall and between them was a large boulder which was perched on another one. Maybe at one point it rocked, but not today. It looked very heavy. Lots of people had carved their names on it and some were very old.

We had our dinner in the old barn which was ruined and very dark. Then we had a look around the Hall. There were 3 doors – the middle one was locked, but there was a deer’s head on the wall. There was a stone carving of a face above the door.

The left door wouldn’t open because it was jammed but the right door opened and there was a little room. We went inside and there was a bench and a fireplace. It must have been very comfy and warm when the fire was lit.

We didn’t stay too long because it was starting to get dark. It felt like it took us ages to get back to the car.

It was a really nice walk and Rocking Hall was really good.