There is no evidence that the name Rockley Abbey ever referred to an ecclesiastical building. The name only occurs from 1822 onwards (Smith 1961, 293). Before that the site was known as Rockley Hall and earlier still it was called Falthwaite. This was the home of a branch of the Rockley family from the 13th century (Hunter 1831, 284). The Rockley estate passed to the Earl of Strafford and became an extention of the Stainborough estate. William Wentworth, the second earl, altered Rockley Hall to make it resemble a ruined monastery (ibid, 289). There is a modern farm building on the site now. The only remains of the earlier building is an out building so legibility is fragmentary.