23rd April 2015
St George’s Day has been celebrated for thousands of years, since 1222 on the 23rd April. The hymn Jerusalem is sung in Churches across the nation on this date, it used to be a national holiday and families had celebration dinners on this day, however since the 18th century it isn’t widely celebrated in England, though in other countries it is. Despite it being declared St George’s day in 1222, it wasn’t until 1348 that St George became the Patron Saint of England.
His reputation has lasted nearly 1700 years, and celebrated more in other nations than in ours, there are many legends regarding his lifetime, mainly involving slaying a Dragon! He was born in Cappadocia (now Turkey) around the year 280AD.
Cragside is a National Trust property, built in the 19th century by Lord Armstrong. The house itself is a very interesting place to visit and we would highly recommend it, there are many labour saving devices Armstrong himself designed and constructed, for example a hydraulic lift, automatically turned spits and filament light bulbs in the Library- which was the first room in the world to be lit by these kind of bulbs, invented by Joseph Swan.
Inside Cragside, there are windows created by William Morris, one of which depicts St George himself, pictured below. The window, and indeed the entire property are marvellous and, if you are in the area, are a must see!
Posted in William Morris by Laura