Ahh sorry for the confusion. I want to go into the ceiling rose. I'm guessing as it's a Victorian house the ceiling rose should be on a joint or noggin as it's not central to the room and surely it's designed to take heavyish light fittings?
Don't know the answer to most of those because I moved in in September. I'm presuming the ceiling rose has been there a long time and painted over a lot as the paint is thick. I'm only 5'5 and the lamp will hang less than a metre.
I bought this light fitting second hand and it didn't come with any fixings. As you can see from the photos, the screw holes are not on the sides of the ceiling mount unit so buying the usual metal bracket for this wouldn't work. Should I screw the fitting directly into the ceiling using Rawl...