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Cragside is a Victorian Tudor Revival country house a mile to the east of Rothbury in Northumberland. It was the home of William Armstrong, one of Britain's least-celebrated geniuses. He was an engineer, businessman, industrial magnate, scientist, philanthropist and visionary inventor, including the hydraulic crane and the Armstrong gun. Armstrong also displayed his inventiveness in the domestic sphere, making Cragside the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power. It is within the council area of Northumberland. More...
Historic England Grade I Listed 1042076.
Place Type: Victorian House
Historic County: Northumberland
Lat, Long: 55.313667,-1.8857136
Grid Reference: NU 0735 0218
Civil Parish: Rothbury CP
Council Area: Northumberland CA
Strategic Authority Area: North East SA
Police Area: Northumbria PA
GBPN ID: 301105
Entry Type: Main listing (P)
URL: https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Cragside,_Northumberland_301105
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The estate was technologically advanced. In the grounds, Armstrong built dams and lakes to power a sawmill, a water-powered laundry, early versions of a dishwasher and a dumb waiter, a hydraulic lift and a hydroelectric rotisserie. In 1887, Armstrong was raised to the peerage, the first engineer or scientist to be ennobled, and became Baron Armstrong of Cragside.
The original building consisted of a small shooting lodge which Armstrong built between 1862 and 1864. In 1869, he employed the architect Richard Norman Shaw to enlarge the site, and they transformed the house into a northern Neuschwanstein. The result was described by the architect and writer Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel as 'one of the most dramatic compositions in all architecture'. Armstrong also filled the house with a significant art collection; it also became an integral part of Armstrong's commercial operations, and honoured guests under Armstrong's roof such as the Shah of Persia, the King of Siam and two future Prime Ministers of Japan, were also customers for his commercial undertakings.
Following Armstrong's death in 1900, his heirs struggled to maintain the house and estate. In 1910, the best of Armstrong's art collection was sold off and by the 1970s plans were submitted for large-scale residential development of the estate.
In 1971 the National Trust asked the architectural historian Mark Girouard to compile a gazetteer of the most important Victorian houses in Britain which the Trust should seek to save should they ever be sold. Girouard placed Cragside at the top of the list. And in 1977, the house was acquired by the Trust with the aid of a grant from the National Land Fund. A Grade I listed building since 1953, Cragside has been open to the public since 1979.
Historic England Grade I Listed 1042076.
Place Type: Victorian House
Historic County: Northumberland
Lat, Long: 55.313667,-1.8857136
Grid Reference: NU 0735 0218
Civil Parish: Rothbury CP
Council Area: Northumberland CA
Strategic Authority Area: North East SA
Police Area: Northumbria PA
GBPN ID: 301105
Entry Type: Main listing (P)
URL: https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Cragside,_Northumberland_301105
Peruse Northumberland on WikishireThe estate was technologically advanced. In the grounds, Armstrong built dams and lakes to power a sawmill, a water-powered laundry, early versions of a dishwasher and a dumb waiter, a hydraulic lift and a hydroelectric rotisserie. In 1887, Armstrong was raised to the peerage, the first engineer or scientist to be ennobled, and became Baron Armstrong of Cragside.
The original building consisted of a small shooting lodge which Armstrong built between 1862 and 1864. In 1869, he employed the architect Richard Norman Shaw to enlarge the site, and they transformed the house into a northern Neuschwanstein. The result was described by the architect and writer Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel as 'one of the most dramatic compositions in all architecture'. Armstrong also filled the house with a significant art collection; it also became an integral part of Armstrong's commercial operations, and honoured guests under Armstrong's roof such as the Shah of Persia, the King of Siam and two future Prime Ministers of Japan, were also customers for his commercial undertakings.
Following Armstrong's death in 1900, his heirs struggled to maintain the house and estate. In 1910, the best of Armstrong's art collection was sold off and by the 1970s plans were submitted for large-scale residential development of the estate.
In 1971 the National Trust asked the architectural historian Mark Girouard to compile a gazetteer of the most important Victorian houses in Britain which the Trust should seek to save should they ever be sold. Girouard placed Cragside at the top of the list. And in 1977, the house was acquired by the Trust with the aid of a grant from the National Land Fund. A Grade I listed building since 1953, Cragside has been open to the public since 1979.