Cragside: the Home of Modern Living

Lord Armstrong’s home was an Aladdin’s cave of Victorian technology.

1863

Queen Victoria 1837-1901

Cragside House in Northumberland, towering over the little dene of Debdon Burn. © Phil Catterall, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Introduction

Modern ‘green’ policies cost money and jobs, and blight the environment. Victorian industrialist Lord Armstrong managed to conserve the environment and yet also trial a range of emerging technologies that now bring comfort and prosperity to hundreds of millions of people.

by Clay Lane

CRAGSIDE House was developed over several years by Victorian industrialist William Armstrong, starting in 1863.

A keen naturalist, he planted his land with seven million trees and shrubs, chiefly conifers and rhododendrons, and created what remains one of Europe’s largest rock gardens.

Badgers and rare red squirrels scurry in the Cragside woods, while Canada geese, heron, and dragonflies can still be spotted down by the water.

But Armstrong, the first scientist to join the House of Lords, also had a passion for emerging technology. He had made his fortune in the weapons and ship-building industries, and specialised in hydraulics.

At Cragside, he used hydraulic power to drive a laundry and a lift, and in 1870 built the world’s first hydro-electric power station, fed by one of the lakes on his estate. Ten years later, Joseph Swan fitted his revolutionary incandescent electric lighting at Cragside, and considered it his first ‘proper’ installation.

Cragside was where modern living began.

by Clay Lane

Précis

William Armstrong was a Victorian industrialist, who built a house at Cragside in Northumberland as a showcase for the latest technology. It boasted labour-saving devices such as washing machines and a lift, and was the first private home to be powered by hydro-electricity and lit by incandescent light-bulbs.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

How was the electricity for Swan’s revolutionary lighting system generated?

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Armstrong designed a lift. It was used for linen, coal and crockery. It went to the upper floors.

Donate

Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.