Cragend Farm

Cragend Farm is an award-winning site – winner of the The Custodian Prize 2023 and runner up in the Historic Houses Collections Award 2023. From the Big Bang to the 21st century: enjoy a sensory historical tour, including artefacts and research, and experience the unique work of businessman and innovative engineer Lord Armstrong of Cragside.

Cragend Farm sits quietly on the edge of the famous Cragside Estate, Rothbury, near Alnwick and Bamburgh, in Northumberland, designed by Lord Armstrong of Cragside for his prize cattle. It is an ancient Northumberland farm dating back to the 1300s, associated with the National Trust property Cragside. It was re-modelled and transformed to use hydraulic engineering by North-East industrialist Lord William Armstrong of Cragside from the 1860s. It has a unique history thanks to this great innovator’s vision for engineering and science including a Grade II* Agricultural Site.

Visit the farm, its buildings, the agricultural hydraulic machinery and engineering skills of ‘The Magician of the North’, the Hydraulic Silo, Weighbridge with its Victorian machinery, the Cragend Grange hydraulic ‘Turbine Room’, the courtyard and dairies, and see the farmhouse where there is on-going work stripping back the years to the original stonework.

British rare-breed pedigree Whitebred Shorthorn cattle and Park Type Cheviot sheep roam the fields and there is also plenty of wildlife to see.

Originally from further up The Coquet Valley, the Renwicks moved to Cragend Farm in 2011 to renovate and restore this unique gem of history. It is an ongoing project and continues to reveal new stories.

The tour includes tea/coffee & biscuits, a free brochure of information and access to the estate after the tour for you to bring a picnic lunch if you wish.

Shaun & Lou Renwick welcome you to holiday at East Cottage, or B&B in ‘The Armstrong Wing’ and ‘The West Room’ of Cragend Grange where a delicious breakfast is cooked for you before you step out for the day. Historic heritage holiday accommodation, farming with rare breeds, and bio-mass sustainability.