Conservatory And Stables To North East Of Cragside Park House

The conservatory and stables located to the northeast of Cragside Park House were built in the third quarter of the 19th century for Lord Armstrong. The conservatory features a timber frame with a glazed cast-iron roof, set on an ashlar plinth, while the rear wall is made of squared stone. The stables at the back are constructed from squared rubble with tooled dressings and have a Welsh slate roof. The conservatory has a projecting central section with an asymmetric gabled roof and pent side sections, which share a common spine wall with the stable range behind.

On the south elevation, the central part consists of 22 narrow bays, with a central door and a chamfered plinth. Each side part has 18 narrow bays and is topped with an ornamental wrought-iron ridge featuring a thistle pattern. The returns show a chamfered plinth that steps uphill, and the rear part of the right return includes a circular window. The rear elevation of the stables features a central gabled projection with a boarded door and three 12-pane Yorkshire sash windows to the right.

Inside the conservatory, there is a stepped floor that originally held around 80 large rotating ceramic pots, with sockets for smaller intermediate pots that have since been removed. The space includes an underfloor ventilation and heating chamber, with arched vents in the faces of the steps. Smoke from the heating apparatus was efficiently drawn away through a sophisticated ventilation system that involved a long flue and two chimneys located on the hillside to the northeast.