Lou is the owner of Cragend Farm with her husband Shaun, and deals with everything from Holiday Accommodation inquiries to egg collection from the chickens; she is the social media and web design finger-tapper.
British Council for Archaeology Festival 21st July 2026
We are having a dig day!
We aim to look deeper into the Pre-historic Celtic Camp and the industrial heritage on this event.
Limited Tickets £15 can be purchased in advance here
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.
Cragend 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 our 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 a free brochure of information, tea/coffee, refreshments with access to the estate after the tour for you to bring a picnic lunch if you wish.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cragendfarm/2243373
Find Out More About Cragend
Cragend Farm has a interesting and diverse history, from technical innovations to historic buildings. Tied in closely to the neighbouring Cragside Estate home of Victorian inventor and industrialist Lord Armstrong.
Wonderful Dog Friendly B&B and self catering cottage, Amazing unique historic site, (featured on TV: Matt Baker’s Travels with Mum & Dad North East)
Original Cragside Architecture and Machinery. Celtic Camp and Ducal Border Reiver settlement, remodelled by Victorian Lord Armstrong of Cragside as his show case for hydraulic machinery.
ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT in ABOUT US.