Cragside Manor House Marble Fireplace
The Marble Fireplace at Cragside Manor House, Northumberland dates from 1884 and was built from 10 tons of Italian marble.
The fireplace is Classical Renaissance-style and the room is heated from below by its own boiler and pipe system.
Cragside, now owned by the National Trust, is a Victorian Tudor Revival country house near the town of Rothbury in Northumberland.
It was the home of William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, founder of the Armstrong Whitworth armaments firm.
An industrial magnate, scientist, philanthropist and inventor of the hydraulic crane, Armstrong made Cragside the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power.
In contrast to the homely interiors of the rest of the House, the Drawing Room was created as a showpiece, with its colossal marble fireplace, lavish chenille carpet and elliptical glass ceiling to party under by moonlight.
This grand space was designed to entertain important guests and the clients of William Armstrong’s armaments companies.
The spectacular room is considered a masterpiece of the Victorian architect Norman Shaw.
At six meters tall and weighing approximately 10 tons, the majestic fireplace spans from floor to ceiling and was carved from a mixture of Italian marble and alabaster.
The fireplace consists of a deep inglenook, nearly 3 meters wide, with Ionic columns that support a huge and highly detailed chimney breast.
It was designed by William Lethaby, the Chief Assistant of Cragside’s architect Richard Norman Shaw. Lethaby would go on to be an influential Arts and Craft architect in his own right.
Inspired by the grandeur of Italian classical architecture, he created an extravagantly decorated masterpiece with cherubs, as well as intricately designed swags of fruit, putti and angels.
In 1884, shortly after the Drawing Room was completed, the then Prince and Princess of Wales visited. Illustrations show the royal couple and their children in front of the spectacular fireplace.
The royals chose to stay at Cragside during their Northern tour because they wished to witness its famous hydro-technology and experience luxuries like central heating and hot-water plumbing that were superior even to those at royal palaces.
The spectacular fireplace remains the centerpiece of the unique room – the only other similar room by Norman Shaw was in a different house near Liverpool which was lost when the house was demolished.
Recently, the fireplace was given urgent attention to prevent it from crumbling.
It had been experiencing significant occurrences of salt efflorescence - this is when salt crystals appear on the porous surface of stone and plasterwork.
It’s caused by moisture moving through the stone and then evaporating, leaving the salts behind.
When the salts build up in the ‘pores’ of the stone, it gradually pushes the material apart, causing it to crumble.
If left untreated, this deterioration of the marble and plasterwork would cause parts of the fireplace to fall off.
The National Trust, who own the property, needed to make sure work was carried out to conserve this dramatic piece of history for years to come.
Today, all rooms are open at Cragside House and is open to visitors.
The Library
The Library houses four of the inventor Joseph Swan’s original incandescent lamps. Originally the vases stood in a bowl of mercury.
Servants would wear gloves to avoid electrocution while placing the bowls in mercury to complete the circuit.
The house shone with electric light, which was powered by Armstrong’s expertly integrated hydroelectricity system. This system harnessed the power from man-made lakes across the Cragside estate.
The Owl Suite
Guests in the Owl Suite would enjoy the luxury of hot and cold running water, central heating and even a sunken bath and fitted sinks.
People flocked to Cragside from all over the world, drawn by tales of the ‘modern magician's palace', filled with lavish gadgets.
In fact, in 1884 the Prince and Princess of Wales – the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra – stayed at the house. They chose Cragside over the region’s castles and homes.
The Kitchen
The kitchen boasts double-height ceilings and plenty of windows that bring in plenty of light and air.
In the Armstrongs' time, it also had labour-saving gadgets including a water-powered rotating spit and an early dishwasher.
There was also a hand-operated dumb waiter for hoisting items up from the scullery and pantries.
The Gallery
Cragside's gallery was originally intended to house the Armstrong's private museum. The married couple collected contemporary British art by Millais, Leighton, Rossettini and Turner.
Collecting was a fashionable pastime for Victorians, as you'll see as you journey through the house.
There's lots to discover, from exotic taxidermy to an assembly of 4,000 seashells - each carefully labelled and displayed.
Grounds and estate
Cragside is surrounded by an extensive rock garden, with a collection of rhododendrons, one of which is named after Lady Armstrong, who made a considerable contribution to the design and construction of the gardens.
Among these is the tallest Scots pine in Britain, at a height of 131 feet.
Armstrong continued to buy land after the purchase of the original site and by the 1880s the gardens and grounds comprised some 1,700 acres with the wider estate, including Armstrong's agricultural holdings, extending to 15,000 acres.
David Dougan records the traditional claim that Armstrong planted over seven million trees in the gardens and parkland.
The estate is a sanctuary for some of the last remaining red squirrel colonies in England.
The glen north-west of the house is spanned by an iron bridge, pictured above crossing the Debdon Burn, constructed to Armstrong's design at his Elswick Works in the 1870s.
It is a Grade II* listed structure and was restored by the Trust, and reopened to the public in 2008–2009.
The gardens themselves are listed Grade I, and some of the architectural and technological structures have their own historic listings.
The Clock Tower, which regulated life on the estate, dates from the time of the construction of the shooting lodge, and might have been designed by the same architect; it is not by Shaw.
It is possible that Armstrong himself designed the clock.
It’s a delightful place to explore.
Someone who recently visited said: “A truly amazing place. A first visit for us to this national gem. It was one of the best day out venues we have ever visited.
”The house is truly astonishing with various inventions and displays of Armstong's work. Outdoors a lovely visitors centre/shop is very busy.
”The woodlands, gardens, carriage way and lakes are all stunning. Having visited on Easter Sunday, there were a lot of activities for the children to enjoy as well.
”I feel this place does not get the recognition it deserves as it is a truly magnificent place.”
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