Mount Stewart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mount Stewart is an 18th century house and landscaped garden owned by the National Trust.
Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the home of the Londonderry family. The house and its contents reflect the history of the Londonderrys who played a leading role in British social and political life.
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh was the son of the first Marquess of Londonderry and Foreign Secretary from 1812 until his death in 1822. Castlereagh was a leading figure at the Congress of Vienna, the conference organised to redraw Europe's political map after the Napoleonic Wars. The Empire chairs used at the conference are on display in Mount Stewart's dining room.
The 98 acre garden at Mount Stewart is widely regarded as one of the greatest in the British Isles and earned it a World Heritage Site nomination. Largely created by Edith, Lady Londonderry, wife of the 7th Marquess, in the 1920s, it has an unrivalled collection of rare and unusual plants. The garden includes azaleas in the Sunken Garden, the Red Hand of Ulster in the Shamrock Garden, and the Dodo Terrace's animal statues.
A George Stubbs painting of the famous racehorse Hambletonian is on display in the house. It voted one of the United Kingdom's 100 Greatest Works of Art.
Lady Mairi Bury, who is the only surviving child of the 7th Marquess of Londonderry and the giver of Mount Stewart to the National Trust, still lives at Mount Stewart.
[edit] Admission Prices (correct in Nov 2006)
House & gardens: £5.50, child £2.80, family £13.80.
Gardens only: £4.50, child £2.40, family £11.40. Groups £4
Free admission to National Trust members
