Cragend Farm

About this place

Cragend Farm is a working farm near Rothbury in Northumberland with origins in the medieval period.

Lord William Armstrong of Cragside remodelled it from the 1860s onwards, applying hydraulic engineering to silos, weighbridges and dairies.

Rare-breed Whitebred Shorthorn cattle, Bagot goats and Cheviot sheep graze the surrounding fields.

The farm is privately owned but takes part in the Historic Houses network, with tours by appointment and bed and breakfast rooms available in the farmhouse.

History

The farm's origins lie in the medieval period, making it one of the older agricultural sites in the Coquet Valley. From the 1860s, industrialist Lord William Armstrong of Cragside rebuilt it as a model farm, applying hydraulic engineering he had pioneered elsewhere to silos, weighbridges and dairies. Shaun and Lou Renwick took on the property in 2011 and have been restoring the farmhouse and outbuildings ever since.

Architecture

The site includes a Grade II* listed hydraulic silo built to Armstrong's design, along with a Victorian weighbridge and a hydraulic turbine room that once powered the farm's machinery.

Worth knowing

The farm won the Custodian Prize in 2023 and was runner-up for the Historic Houses Collections Award the same year. It also featured on Matt Baker's television series Travels with Mum and Dad.