The country house Cragside in Northumberland has also recaptured its Victorian heyday, in this case thanks to the National Trust's recent acquisition of two pictures that used to hang there

Apollo, Nov, 2004 by Samson Spanier

The country house Cragside in Northumberland has also recaptured its Victorian heyday, in this case thanks to the National Trust's recent acquisition of two pictures that used to hang there. Under the first Lord Armstrong (1810-1900), the house was filled with fine ceramics and Old Masters, many of the latter revealing a taste for romantic landscapes with lots of water. Much of the collection was auctioned off in 1910 by his nephew and successor, leaving only copies of Old Masters and work by local artists. The sale included William Cooke's San Giorgio Maggiore and the Salute, Venice, re-acquired for the house at Christie's in November 2002. Thomas Miles Richardson's Roughtin Brig, which Armstrong bought in 1865, failed to sell in 1910 and was transferred to another family home, from where it was acquired at Anderson and Garland by the NT two months ago.

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