Leazes Park

Leazes Park is a park in Newcastle upon Tyne. It lies to the west of the city centre. It is the city's oldest park, opened in 1873. It contains a lake above the course of the Lort Burn. It is next to St James' Park and the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Leazes Park is separated from Spital Tongues by Castle Leazes, an area of common land similar to the Town Moor.

History

The creation of a Leazes Park was a drawn out affair. In September 1857 3,000 working men petitioned Newcastle Council for ‘ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation’ and a year later a special committee was set up to try and find a location for a park. Aldermen Harle and Hamond took up the challenge and campaigned for a park and eventually succeeded in having Leazes Park created on a part of the Leazes Town Moor.On the 23rd of Dec 1873 Leazes Park was officially opened by Alderman Sir Charles Hamond. It became the first public park created on Tyneside.John Fulton, the Town Surveyor, laid out Leazes Park similar to other parks being built in Britain at that time. The layout centres around the lake. The Bandstand and Terrace were added and later the whole park was surrounded with metal railings.The grand Jubilee gates were added to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria and a Palm House was built. In 1905 a bust of Alderman Sir Charles Hamond was erected as the centrepiece to the Terrace and the park was then complete.The park continued to develop with deer, aviaries, tennis, and croquet until the 1980’s when it was in need of refurbishment. The refurbishment became possible when the park was awarded £3.7 million from the National Lottery in 2001.

References

* [http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/leazes.nsf/a/history?opendocument Newcastle city council, Leazes Park]