Gosforth, Gosforth Park, lake

HER Number:
15576

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Gosforth, Gosforth Park, lake

Place:
Gosforth

Map Sheet:
NZ27SE

Class:
Gardens Parks and Urban Spaces

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Lake

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

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).

Easting:
2546

Northing:
7024

Grid Reference:
NZ25467024

Lats/Lons:

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