16 Facts About Mount Stewart

Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust.

Prominently associated with the 2nd Marguess, Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, Britain's Foreign Secretary at the Congress of Vienna and with the 7th Marquess, Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, the former Air Minister who at Mount Stewart attempted private diplomacy with Hitler's Germany, the house and its contents reflect the history of the family's leading role in social and political life in Britain and Ireland.

Original property, Mount Pleasant, was purchased with neighbouring estates in 1744 by Alexander Stewart .

In 1795 Alexander's son, Robert Mount Stewart was elevated to Earl of Londonderry, and in 1797 his son Robert Mount Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland by the Lord Lieutenant, Londonderry's brother-in-law, John Pratt, Earl Camden.

In 1787, writing to her brother William Drennan, Martha McTier described visiting Mount Stewart, and meeting "with no one thing worth notice, unless great wall pounds are so – much expense, no taste, every thing unfinished and dirty, grand plans for the future, nothing pleasant nor even comfortable at present".

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Mount Stewart married Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest, the greatest heiress of her time, in appreciation of which he styled himself Robert Vane and ordered a further enlargement of the house replacing what remained of its 18th century fabric.

Mount Stewart proved an effective organiser, helping build the UUWC into a mass organisation, and in the preparation of an armed resistance to a Dublin parliament, the Ulster Volunteers to whom she offered Mount Stewart as a potential infirmary and triage site.

In 1921, the 7th Marquess, Charles Vane-Tempest-Mount Stewart, accepted office as Minister of Education in the unexpected fruit of unionist agitation, the new home-rule Parliament of Northern Ireland.

At Mount Stewart it was a suspicion Londonderry appeared to confirm when, following on a visit to Hitler in Berlin, in May 1936 he entertained the German Ambassador to London, Joachim von Ribbentrop.

Mount Stewart named the latter after European cities including Rome and Moscow.

Mount Stewart died at Mount Stewart on 18 November 2009, at the age of 88, in the same four poster bed, hung with red silk damask, that she had been born in.

In 1999, the Mount Stewart Gardens were added to the United Kingdom "Tentative List" of sites for potential nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mount Stewart was in almost permanent use when the 3rd Marquess was alive and was greatly extended to become the principal family residence.

Mount Stewart added the Shamrock Garden, the Sunken Garden, increased the size of the lake, added a Spanish Garden with a small hut, the Italian Garden, the Dodo Terrace with its 'menagerie' of cement animals, the Fountain Pool and laid out walks in the Lily Wood and rest of the estate.

The area is frost-free and, as Lady Edith discovered, Mount Stewart enjoys island conditions, the atmosphere is humid and, in hot weather, there are heavy dews at night.

Present-day estate of Mount Stewart extends to 950 acres with a large lake and many monuments and farm buildings.