Bishop's Park

In the late 12th century Bishop Puiset gave certain rights in the forest of Gateshead to the burgesses of Gateshead, the bishops having hunted there in the 12th and 13th centuries. The bishop's park covered the whole of the east half of Gateshead, roughly within the area bounded by High Street, Sunderland Road and Felling, and was enclosed by a bank and ditch. As time passed it was used less, and decreased in size. Around the late 13th century Claxton's and Friar's Goose Estates were carved out of the park to provide a rental for the Hospital of St. Edmund King and Martyr; and in 1554 the Saltmeadows estate was leased to Newcastle Corporation. What remained became the demesne land of the manor of Gateshead.