9th April 2015
In 1863 Lord William George Armstrong (1810 -1900) decided to holiday in Rothbury. This would be his first proper holiday in 15 years.
As a child Armstrong was considered a sickly as he suffered with a bad chest, his annual trips to Rothbury had helped clear his chest. It was with those happy memories that he decided on an angling holiday that would lead to the impulse buy of a few acres of land on the Debdon Valley on which to build a small house for angling holidays.
Lord and Lady Armstrong lived in Jesmond which at that time was on the edge of Newcastle.The developement of the railway in 1869 and the ease in which Armstrong would be able to get back to Newcastle meant the developement of Cragside and became the couple’s main residence.
Richard Norman Shaw was appointed in 1869 to extend the original Cragside.The extensions lasted for the next 15 years.
Posted in William Morris by Laura