Rocksavage comprised a sandstone quadrangle around a central courtyard, with paired octagonal towers flanking the main entrance.

[10] John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers (1603–1654), declared for the royalist side during the Civil War; Rocksavage was ransacked by parliamentarian forces, and the roof and part of the walls were destroyed.

[8] The first Duke of Monmouth stayed at Rocksavage on 13 September 1682 as a guest of Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl Rivers, while touring Cheshire to assess support for a faction opposed to Charles II.

[17] The design of the Elizabethan mansion was a quadrangle of four bays in the local red sandstone, built around a central courtyard, and was symmetrical but not classical.

[4][8][18][19] The main entrance was a gateway flanked by octagonal towers with domed tops and bridged by a crenellated wall.

[4][6][8][18] The towers are prominent in an engraving of the ruins, after Peter de Wint, which dates from around 1818 and appears in George Ormerod's The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester.