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The story behind the nomination. We are thrilled to announce that Cragend Farm is Shortlisted for National Competition Everyday History Heroes 2026 We Need Your Vote!  We are delighted to announce that Cragend Farm has been shortlisted for the prestigious Everyday History Heroes 2026 awards, run by Find my past in association with Heritage Open Days.  Being shortlisted is a ...

Substack is the new home of our blog and it can be found here. It will have most of the historic items plus news ones. After 15 years we haev decided to use a digital platform that will be easy to resource for our archive on restoration on the farm. We hope you join us an subscribe.  https://substack.com/profile/159626638-cragend-farm/note/c-288128030?utm_source=substac ...

Cragside and Lord William Armstrong  Magician of the North    There have been many books written about Lord Armstrong over the years: Henrietta Heald 'William Armstrong Magician of the North' ISBN 978-1-9047944-9-3 2010 Page 130 "Tumbleton Lake was formed by damming Debdon Burn lower down, creating a head of water to serve the pump house of 1866, where pumps driven by a ...

Cragside National Trust  Cragside visitor guide 1992 reads as follows:  "ESTATE FARMS: At Cragend Farm a stone walled silo was constructed for silage making. It consists of a central tower between two cement-rendered tanks with a corrugated wrought iron roof. A hydraulic jigger in the tower was used to raise and lower circular 1 ton weights which compressed the silage in th ...

ICOMOS-UK Heritage Photography Competition 2026: Images of Industrial Heritage We are looking for photographers to take amazing photo of our industrial heritage and send them in to this competition:  Click the title for the link . The second in our series of photography competitions that celebrate built and living heritage around the world, from different perspectives. ‘Im ...

EVENT:  TOUR TALK at Cragend Farm Monday 8th J une 2026  An exciting opportunity to join acclaimed author Henrietta Heald, for a fascinating talk bringing history vividly to life.  Her acclaimed biography exploring North East Inventor Lord William Armstrong tells how this brilliant visionary and engineer behind Northumberland eco-home, Cragside, became the world’s first hydro ...

Everyday Histories  2026 We are a farm in Northumberland where Everyday Histories resonate for us and for  Heritage Open Days on two levels: Here at Cragend Farm we are a real farm in Northumberland where the idea of “everyday histories in farming life” can still be seen today. We connect modern visitors with the daily work, tools, buildings, and traditions of rural life acr ...

AI Interpretation helps us bring our tours to life: Our tours start in May and booking is open on the Historic Houses website Invitation to View.  This is an imagined scene based on The Cragend Farm Hydraulic Silo Grade II* that still sits at the heart of Cragend Farm. Built in 1883-1884 it was Lord Armstrong of Cragside's pride and joy as a demonstration centre for showcasin ...

Booking a Tour with us in 2026   You can book direct or through Invitation to View with Historic Houses. Cost £15p.p. includes light refreshments and the chance to picnic in the grounds afterwards. Tour details: This ancient farm was re-modelled and transformed to use hydraulic engineering by Northumbrian industrialist Lord William Armstrong of Cragside in the 1880s. It h ...

The National Curriculum   Looking to inspire the children ... Cragend Farm has a wide range of subject matter that will inspire and multiple ways to learn about many different subjects. The National Curriculum can be used in many ways at our Heritage Site for a range of learners, from Key Stage 1 through to A Levels and Post-Graduates:  Contact us to arrange a school trip ...

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to your fantastic farm on the Historic Houses tour on Tuesday. We both agree that it was the most interesting HHA visit we have ever done - and we have done many over the years! We had no idea of the extent of the Armstrong connection or what you have there, having visited Cragside on so many occasions in the past 50 years or so. And indeed looked down on the farm from the walks at Cragend quite recently. We particularly enjoyed ascending and descending the ladders to look at the hydraulic equipment and get an idea of how it all functioned, the beautiful and unusual buildings which had housed the cattle, and were intrigued by the contents of your "underground " loo! Peacocks and chicks, hens and a beautiful pet lamb added to the feel of the farm.

Shaun & Lou Renwick are keen to harness the farm's natural resources, using wood to heat their water, to cook with on a wood burning range, and to heat the houses on the Farm. Even if your house is not equipped to totally run on wood there are things you can do to make sure you are using the best quality wood for your fires.

Why use Seasoned Wood?

Seasoned wood is a definition for 'wood drying'. About 5% of the energy of the log is wasted through evaporation and heating the water vapour of damp logs.

Moisture effects the burning process with unburnt hydrocarbons going up the chimney, which can in time create 'sooting' in the chimney, with the possibility of a chimney fire, all of which requires specialist sweeping.

Drying the wood before burning reduces moisture content in the wood before it is used for burning,

Air drying is the most traditional method, and it takes time. usually over and above 2 years! The fire will use less energy to burn the log if the water content is below 20%. Therefore is can give OUT more energy in the form of heat!

Cragend Farm endeavours to provide their customers with the best seasoned wood possible.

if you would like further information on the process of burning wood please contact us and we will be happy to help.

Why seasoned wood?

Thank you so much Lou and Shaun for a great holiday break on your farm at Cragend last week. East Cottage was a super place to stay. Very comfortable accommodation with everything we needed for self-catering and situated next to the beautiful Cragside National Trust gardens. It was super for our dog with fields to walk across as well as a secure fenced place for her to run off lead! Such interesting history too about the farm and how you have restored the buildings, the Victorian silo and so much else of the past farming life at Cragend. We look forward to returning! J&M Nottingham.

Award Winning Accommodation