Rockland is the historic neighbourhood southeast of downtown and northeast of Beacon Hill Park, flanking Rockland Avenue between Fort Street, Oak Bay Avenue and Fairfield. The land was granted to James Douglas and J.D. Pemberton, and Cary Castle became the vice-regal residence in 1871; today's Government House replaced it after fires in 1903 and 1957, and its gardens are open to the public. Craigdarroch Castle, built for coal baron Robert Dunsmuir in the 1890s, and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria on Moss Street are the other landmarks, and Christ Church Cathedral marks the downtown edge.
Rockland is one of Victoria's most affluent neighbourhoods, with estate-sized lots, Rattenbury and Maclure houses and a mature urban forest largely on private land. There is more rental and strata housing than the streetscape suggests: many of the grand houses were converted to suites in the mid-twentieth century, and heritage conversions and boutique condominium buildings line Rockland Avenue, Linden Avenue and the Fort Street edge. There is no commercial village inside the neighbourhood; residents walk to Cook Street Village, the Fort and Foul Bay shops or Oak Bay Avenue. Fort Street is a priority frequent-transit corridor, and downtown is a fifteen-minute walk.
