It was built, at a cost of £800, and partly endowed by George Gill Mounsey of Rockcliffe, Carlisle who also erected the nearby Gilsland Spa Hotel in 1860.
The original stations between Carlisle and Carstairs were: Rockcliffe, Floriston, Kirkpatrick, Gretna, Kirtlebridge, Ecclefechan, Lockerbie, Nethercleugh, Dinwoodie, Wamphray, Beattock, Elvanfoot, Crawford, Abington, Lamington, Symington and Thankerton.
Rockcliffe is twinned with Mokoena Primary School in Butha-Buthe, Lesotho.