architecture, belvedere, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, garden history, landscape, Northumberland, Observatory, Summerhouse

Ratcheugh Observatory, Longhoughton, Northumberland

A prominent feature in the extensive demesne of Alnwick Castle is the Observatory on Ratcheugh Crag, a ‘stupendous and romantic rock’. The building was one of a number of landscape features planned by Hugh and Elizabeth, 1st Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, in the 1770s, but the sham-ruined eye-catcher was not completed until after her death.

Ratcheugh Crag is an outcrop of basalt, and a watercolour in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland, dated to the mid 1770s, shows it bare. The crag, which is visible from Alnwick Castle, was a popular destination for an excursion, and in 1773 the Duke and Duchess noted their decision to build ‘A Ruin at Radsheugh’, and to lay out a new road along the rocky escarpment. The Duchess died in 1776, which may have put plans on hold, but a visitor in autumn 1782 noted an ‘unfinish’d building above the rock’, and this became the pavilion that stands today.

As work continued to complete this folly, the Duke, or rather the architect Robert Adam, went back to the drawing board and in 1783-84 a series of magnificent designs for a greatly extended symmetrical range ‘proposed to be erected upon the top of a Rock near Alnwick Castle’ were executed. A number are in the Sir John Soane museum, and at Alnwick there are wonderful highly-finished designs for a range in a castellated style (below) and an alternative in an ecclesiastical manner.

Robert Adam’s design which would have incorporated the existing pavilion (on the right) into a spectacular symmetrical range. Collection of the Duke of Northumberland.

But these grand plans were never executed. At Alnwick there is a drawing of Ratcheugh by John Lambert which is annotated with the words ‘drawn from Mr Bell’s original design’. John Bell was the Duke’s mason and builder, and had accompanied the late Duchess on tour, sketching the buildings she admired. This wording suggests that it was Bell’s design that was under construction in 1782, and complete by 1784 when Adam noted on one of his plans (above) that ‘the part shaded light already executed by the Duke’.

The Duke had a new drive laid to the crag to enable visitors to arrive in comfort, and in 1785 the Duke took a guest to admire the ‘building imitating the Ruins of an Old Castle’. The upper room was glazed on all sides, and from it Alnwick could ‘be viewed to great advantage’. The panorama also took in the Cheviot Hills and the North Sea.

The folly at Ratcheugh. The watercolour is undated but must have been painted before the folly was extended in the early 19th century, artist unknown. Collection of the Duke of Northumberland.

The Duke died in 1786 and early the next century his son added an extension to the the ruin (not illustrated) to provide a home for the Keeper, which became known as Crag Cottage. The 1844 tithe map calls the hilltop folly the ‘Ratcheugh Tower’ and by the time of the first Ordnance Survey map of 1867 (surveyed 1861-4) it is marked as ‘Observatory’. The surveyors noted it as a ‘Mock Ruin of which the Observatory forms the Apex’, adding perceptively that it had been ‘erected about a century ago to add to the effect of the naturally beautiful landscape’.

Big thanks to John Tanner for the cheerful springtime photographs.

The Crag was celebrated in a very curious poem by John Scafe, an Alnwick-based poet and geologist. In 1820 he combined his interests to write King Coal’s Levee, or Geological etiquette, a versified study of stone, which Goethe described as containing ‘all the knowledge of Geology a man wants’.

Thence to Ratcheugh Crag he pac’d:
– A little wilderness of taste
Dropt on the fertile lands,
And still, by ducal visits graced,
The hoary summit stands.

Northumberland Estates has restored the building, and it continues to be used by the Percy family. There is no public access, but there are occasional open days for local charities, and Ratcheugh Crag and its folly can be admired from public rights of way and the road.

For some stunning drone photos of the observatory, and a short film, visit https://fabulousnorth.com/place/view/ratcheugh-observatory/

Thank you for reading, please scroll down to the comments box if you would like to share any thoughts. 

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11 thoughts on “Ratcheugh Observatory, Longhoughton, Northumberland”

  1. Gand says:

    After being left open mouthed last week, it was observations from a hill that gave us a good view of a Northumberland landmark this week. Excellent article.

    1. Editor says:

      Hello Gand. Pleased you enjoyed both posts. Thanks for letting me know.

  2. John Holland says:

    Another fascinating folly with a very interesting history – thank you.

    1. Editor says:

      Thank you. I really appreciate your comments, especially when we are all missing real contact with friends. Hopefully things are improving and we can all start catching-up at last.

      1. Kenneth Gilbert says:

        Hi
        I have a few memories of this place as I was a small boy in the early seventies and lived in longhoughton. I went to the dukes school in alnwick and a convoy of buses would pick the schoolkids up in longhoughton to head for alnwick. You had to choose your bus carefully as one had to stop at ratcheugh to pick up peter ” tattie” carter who lived in the observatory with his mum. So if you were on the leading bus it would usually have to stop for tattie carter wherbye the other buses would come steaming past!.
        I got invited up to the observatory one evening to have tea with the carter’s. Beans on toast was had!
        Superb memories of living and doing small boy things in a wonderful environment.

        Kind regards
        Kenneth gilbert
        (aged 64)

        1. Editor says:

          Hello Kenneth. Lovely to hear your memories. It is always great to add to the local history. Many thanks for getting in touch.

        2. Linda Ball says:

          Wow I have been there today I used to catch a bus going to the convent school and the bus used to stop on the main road to pick up a lad who said he lived there it was bleak and snowy I never forgot always wanted to see the house he lived in . Sadly I cannot remember his name ALL I can remember is his dad was a bus driver . After all these years I went up there to find the place captivating . Do you know of this lad or is it the same lad

          1. Editor says:

            Hello Linda. I’m delighted that you have been able to visit Ratcheugh. I hope Kenneth is able to answer your question.

          2. Kenneth Gilbert says:

            Hi linda

            As I remarked before the ‘ laddie’ would have been Peter (tattie) Carter who lived in the castle. I can’t remember about his dad because I never saw him, just his mum when I went for tea. The place was also rich in fossils!

            Kind regards
            Kenneth

      2. Kenneth Gilbert says:

        Hi
        I have a few memories of this place as I was a small boy in the early seventies and lived in longhoughton. I went to the dukes school in alnwick and a convoy of buses would pick the schoolkids up in longhoughton to head for alnwick. You had to choose your bus carefully as one had to stop at ratcheugh to pick up peter ” tattie” carter who lived in the observatory with his mum. So if you were on the leading bus it would usually have to stop for tattie carter wherbye the other buses would come steaming past!.
        I got invited up to the observatory one evening to have tea with the carter’s. Beans on toast was had!
        Superb memories of living and doing small boy things in a wonderful environment.

        Kind regards
        Kenneth gilbert
        (aged 64)

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