What Made a Super High-Tech Home in Victorian England? Hydroelectric Witchery, for Starters
9th June 2019
Imagine an ageing magnate in his private retreat, and you might picture English industrialist William – first Baron – Armstrong in the luxurious wood-panelled library of his Northumberland pile: Cragside.
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He was connected to leading scientists and engineers, in many cases buying their inventions for installation in the house or grounds. “He was known for going into a trance-like state with his hand on his head and the other in his pocket and was oblivious to what was going on around him,” Sawyer said, with the result that people wondered if he was still breathing. “For me his greatest gift was the ability to gather amazing people around to achieve his dreams.”