Claire paid a surprise, social distanced visit to wave to residents at older peoples housing and care charity The Abbeyfield Society at Armstrong House in Bamburgh, who are shielding during the lockdown, before being walked down the aisle by her father. As you approach the coastline, it's imposing and grand and you can't help but be impressed. He completed restorations on the castle, and it remains the property of the Armstrong family today. He was a collector of contemporary art, and owned works by Millais, Wilkie, J.M.W. On a manhunt in 1877, a hard-bitten Texas ranger named John B. Armstrong captured the notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin after what the officer later described in a telegram back home as a . Armstrong was responsible for inventing the hydraulic accumulator. It has been like reading a synopsis of my own research. If you can help with any of these or with other additions or corrections, please use the contact form in the sidebar to get in touch. He served as High Sheriff of Northumberland, 1883. Armstrong's parents: William (right) and Ann (left), in two oil paintings held by the National Trust at Cragside. The process of transformation was eloquently described by T. Raffles Davison in. 7 d. Matt & Jen Carlino. Image: Kevin Peterson. It works for everyone. In 1847 W. G. Armstrong & Company bought 5.5 acres (22,000 square metres) of land alongside the river at Elswick, near Newcastle, and began to build a factory there. With its close proximity to Scotland, Bamburgh became an important Border garrison, serving as a stronghold and base for warring forays into Scotland. We were lucky to get one of the few free parking spaces right outside the entrance, although we were prepared to park in the long stay car park a little stroll away should there be no spaces nearby. In this sacred church was kept a beautiful silver shrine or reliquary containing the arm of the saint king Oswald. Castle owner Francis Watson-Armstrong said: It was a tremendous privilege to be marrying my beautiful bride Claire in our wonderful family home with our family and friends by our sides. With the wealth came national recognition, in the form of a knighthood in 1859 and a peerage in 1887. The towering main front, which looks out across the Debden Burn, is again a complicated design with lots of movement and further half-timbering. Then having chosen the site and placed the house, call forth your gardeners by the hundreds, and bid them make amongst and around those crags and boulders winding walks, every one formed of steps of the natural grey stone. After centuries of withstanding every kind of armed assault, Bamburgh became the first castle in England to be destroyed by gunfire. Bamburgh Castle sits atop a mighty outcrop of the Great Whin Sill 45 metres above sea level. Armstrong was born in Newcastle upon Tyne at 9 Pleasant Row, Shieldfield, about a mile from the city centre. A small, half-round turret along the cross wall remains as part of the original fortress. The house is in truly beautiful surroundings, just a stones throw away from Bamburgh Castle. Home to a succession of kings from Henry VI to James 1 and the rst castle in the world to fall to gunpowder in the War of the Roses. As a young man he moved to Tyneside to work in one of their family firms, and when his employers ceased trading in 1803 he set up in business on his own account as a corn merchant, taking on some of their contracts. As well as welcoming thousands of visitors each year, the castle hosts weddings, events and self catering holiday accommodation. Along the valley let there be a brooklet teeming with fish, and covered and bordered with trees and rocks forming a veritable glen: span the stream by rustic and iron bridges, which form the centres of a score of perfect pictures. Bamburgh Castle is a castle on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland. Homemade meals, live-in. 2 bathrooms. After the railway reached Coquetdale and he could travel into Newcastle quickly, he enlarged Cragside into a full-time country residence with the assistance of the architect Norman Shaw. [1] Bamburgh Castle remains the much loved private home of the Armstrong family who are committed to preserving the fortress, its priceless contents and the surrounding Bamburgh Castle Estate. It cost more than one million pounds to carry out the epic feat of restoring of Bamburgh Castle. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. In 1860-62 the elderly John Dobson designed a Italianate Banqueting Hall overlooking the valley, which Armstrong used for entertaining business visitors and occasionally his workers too. It's a lovely little museum in an excellent setting and makes a great day out. It was also streamed live to around 500 friends and family, including one of Claires sisters, who lives in San Francisco, and did a reading over the virtual link. William Armstrong (1778-1857) was born in humble circumstances in Cumberland and brought up on the Losh family's Wreay estate in that county. Cragside: drawing room. For some time, Armstrong had been interested in naval guns, and in 1868 his firm entered into partnership with the naval shipbuilders, Charles Mitchell & Co. of Walker-on-Tyne to build armed vessels for the navies of the world. Shaw's design incorporated the existing house (although one is hardly aware of it now externally) but responded to the dramatic setting with a dashingly Picturesque Tudor-inspired design of stone and semi-timbering. On Saturday in the area of Tennent Road and Peregrine Drive in rural Marlboro Township said Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori. Jesmond Dean: the landscaping of the valley after it became a public park. As his wealth increased, Armstrong acquired more and more of the valley floor, and subtly improved its natural beauties to create a dramatic landscape. He married Baroness Maria-Theresa Chiodelli-Manzoni and adopted two children, a son, Francis, and a daughter, Isabella. It was destroyed by the Vikings and rebuilt, and later left to deteriorate for centuries before being brought back to it's former Glory Alison. Meat, milk and coal were distributed to the poor and their crops ground at the castles windmill. Bamburgh Pavilion is a community building for the use of the residents of the Parish and of the wider community. It was a truly momentous and wonderful day for all involved and on behalf of the team at Bamburgh Castle we wish Francis and Claire lots of love and laughs together but most of all endless happiness.. The client was Thomas Forster, who seems to have repurchased the estate after it was sold by order of Chancery in 1789, and to have gained possession after the death of William Watson in 1814. His wife died 9 June 1848. The family went bankrupt in the 1700 or 1800 hundreds and sold the castle the the Armstrong family of Adderstone, Northumberland, England. The Armstrong family stayed near Rome, where my grandfather, Walter Armstrong, was born. Ferguson, 1894-1904. The anniversary Bamburgh beers Lord Armstrong started out his working life as a lawyer before going on to become one of the Victorian age's greatest entrepreneurs, whose firms employed 35,000. He had heart disease. The wedding was live streamed from Bamburgh Castle, Francis Watson-Armstrong was the first Armstrong to marry in the venue in 125 years. Imagine a great hill covered from bottom to crest with huge grey boulder stones, and half-way up, cut out of a steppe on the hill side, the site and placing of a building of the most picturesque kind imaginable. Time has been less kind to the buildings within the landscape, however: Lord Armstrong's house, Jesmond Dean, was demolished in about 1930 and the Banqueting Hall was unroofed in the 1970s, although the Tyne & Wear Building Preservation Trust currently has. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bamburgh Castle and beach : Northumberia coastline: dates from Norman times at the best online prices at eBay! (1) William Henry Cecil John Robin Watson-Armstrong (1919-87), 3rd Baron Armstrong (. The castle stands on a long and narrow coastal outcrop of rock, just south of Lindisfarne. However, Armstrong made it his main residence after the Tyneside strike of 1871 took the shine off his reputation as an enlightened employer. In 1095 Rampaging forces sent by William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, arrived at Bamburgh and began to wrest power from the Northumbrian Kings. Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong Also known as Xander Gender Male Age 48 Date of birth Monday 02 Mar 1970 Birth place Rothbury, Northumberland, England, UK Occupations Actor TV Host Voice Over Artist Comedian Singer & Recording Artist Education Durham School, County Durham, England, United Kingdom Designed in 1914, The house was part of the Armstrong Estate where it was used as a rest home for workers in Armstrong's Tyneside factories. After the passing of the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, he became an elected member of the town council, and in 1850 he was Mayor of Newcastle. The armstrong family bamburgh. Hi Nick, I am so pleased to have happened upon this blog as I am a direct descendant of this Watson family, William Watson 1757-1814 being my 5ggrandfather. Drawn by its mighty escarpment towering 150 foot above the North Sea and natural harbour the sixth century Kings of Northumbria chose Bamburgh as their Royal capital, calling it Din Guaydri. Despite Dr Sharps efforts, the castle fell into financial difficulties once more. Ida the Flamebearer and first of the Anglo Saxon Kings of Bernicia lay the first timbers of a fortified wooden stockade and the original stronghold of Bamburgh Castle. Today it is home to the Victorian Stables Bar, a dog-friendly area, toilets and locker store. Even though Cragside continued to be the principal seat of the family, the long association of the Watsons with the Bamburgh area, and with Adderstone in particular, may have prompted the new Lord Armstrong to retain Bamburgh Castle in his ownership, and if his conscience was troubled by not honouring his great-uncle's intention to make it a convalescent home, it was no doubt eased by his munificent gift of 100,000 in 1900 (about 95m today*) towards rebuilding the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. He set about transforming it into his vision of the archetypal castle. Mrs. Watson-Armstrong and her husband have been together for 18 years and married in 2020. Pikes, halberds, muskets and a history of projectile weaponry including a 15th composite bow and a 17th century Flemish target crossbow line the walls. Privately owned by the Armstrong family, Bamburgh Castle is a world-class visitor destination attracting over 150,000 people each year. Inside, the house has a full-height top-lit domed central hall, with balconies on either side with scrolled iron balustrades, and an open-well cantilevered staircase. Wave-upon-wave of bloody attacks unfurl during a century-long invasion on Northumbria by the power-hungry leaders of rival kingdoms. In 1903 he was also raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh & Cragside, in what was effectively a recreation of his great-uncle's peerage. The Kaims Country Park is a beautiful park in a stunning location, situated just a stone's throw from the iconic Bamburgh Castle. After the arrival of the railway at Rothbury, however, it became feasible for Armstrong to live at Cragside and commute into Newcastle to supervise his business interests, and the house was gradually developed into a full-time residence. This view of 2011 looks from the King's Hall into the Cross Hall. Above the Battery Gate entrance which gave horse and ox-drawn vehicles entry to the castle, the Battery Terrace was fortified with cannons in response to Napoleons threat to invade, medieval arrow slits are still present in the gate towers. Overall, however, I have a sneaking sympathy for Avray Tipping's judgement that the restoration represented the 'acme of expenditure with a nadir of intelligent achievement', and perhaps because the purpose of the restoration was changed half-way through building, or because Ferguson was a more pedestrian architect than Shaw, the interiors lack coherence and disappoint after those of Cragside. I visited Gilnockie Tower in 1992, when it was still . Alison,From memory, one of these attributions is suggested on the National Trust's collections website, and the others are from an Internet source, but they seem plausible as almost certainly the family would have had portraits of these people, and the ages, style of dress/uniform etc correspond. We were both absolutely overwhelmed by the messages of love and joy that poured in for us both.