Gosforth Park, lake
Gosforth Park, lake
HER Number
15576
District
Newcastle
Site Name
Gosforth Park, lake
Place
Gosforth
Map Sheet
NZ27SE
Class
Gardens Parks and Urban Spaces
Site Type: Broad
Water Feature
Site Type: Specific
Boating Lake
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Form of Evidence
Structure
Description
Shown on Collard's plan 1838 with two islands which was fed by a stream from the north and drained into the Ouseburn to the south. It is still present but is much smaller in size. There is a stone sluice which once controlled the level of water and the ruined remains of the boat house.
Kelly's Directory of Northumberland, 1894, mentions that the 50 acre lake is 'appropriated to boating, skating, or curling, according to the season of the year'.
On 25th January 1895 in the Northern Echo, there is a report of a curling match on Gosforth Lake:
'S. Brown, Beith R. Burns v A. Guild, High Gosforth'.
The York Herald, Saturday 16th November 1895, reported on the English section of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. Whilst 20 clubs had joined the new association, and given that 'the interests of curling in England were never more prominent than at the present time', High Gosforth Park is listed as being 'practically extinct'.
In 1986 a fishing or rowing boat was found in the peat (HER 1837).
Kelly's Directory of Northumberland, 1894, mentions that the 50 acre lake is 'appropriated to boating, skating, or curling, according to the season of the year'.
On 25th January 1895 in the Northern Echo, there is a report of a curling match on Gosforth Lake:
'S. Brown, Beith R. Burns v A. Guild, High Gosforth'.
The York Herald, Saturday 16th November 1895, reported on the English section of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. Whilst 20 clubs had joined the new association, and given that 'the interests of curling in England were never more prominent than at the present time', High Gosforth Park is listed as being 'practically extinct'.
In 1986 a fishing or rowing boat was found in the peat (HER 1837).
Easting
425460
Northing
570240
Grid Reference
NZ425460570240
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition, 1861; Thompson, Roy, 1996, Thunder Underground - Northumberland Mine Disasters 1815-1865, photo of lake 109, photos of boat-house and sluice 110; Collard's map of the country round Newcastle, 1838 in Archaeological Services Durham University, 2013, Newcastle Race Course at High Gosforth Park, North Gosforth, Tyne and Wear - archaeological desk based assessment; York Herald, Saturday 16 November 1895; https://sites.google.com/a/curlingplaces.info/cp3/places/4126-high-gosforth; https://forebears.co.uk/england/northumberland/gosforth/north-gosforth