It would be difficult to write a more comprehensive review of Cragside than that of Silver Travellers PamWNorth in 2014, or most recently of Laume who visited about the same time as we did. However, I’d like to add my recommendations about this National Trust gem.
As it’s situated in Northumberland, it’s not the easiest to get to if, like us, you live in Devon! However, we’d been in Scotland, and Northumberland’s on the way back, isn’t it??!! We made an overnight stop specifically to visit Cragside, as we’d heard so much about it, mainly from programmes on television.
It’s everything the other reviewers say about it – a magnificent house famous for the scientific innovations of the Victorian Lord Armstrong and the amazing, forward-looking ideas he had. He was also an excellent designer of gardens/grounds, which at Cragside are extensive.
The main thing that struck us about this property, perhaps more so than any other NT we’ve visited, was that you could easily spend several days here and you still wouldn’t have seen or done everything to appreciate the beauty and extent of Armstrong’s lifetime of work. If we lived nearer, we’d be spending a lot of time there. It’s unfortunate from that point of view that we don’t, but we will definitely try to make return visit in the future.
“House website”:https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cragside
