Leazes Park

About Leazes Park

Leazes Park is the oldest purpose-built park in Newcastle and it exists because people asked for it. In September 1857 some 3,000 working men petitioned the council for ready access to open ground for the purpose of health and recreation, and the park that followed was laid out by the town surveyor John Fulton around a lake above the course of the Lort Burn. It opened on 23 December 1873, the first public park on Tyneside, with the bandstand added in 1875 and ornamental railings and a balustraded terrace by 1879.

It covers about 17.5 hectares, is Grade II registered on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, and was restored after a £3.7m Heritage Lottery Fund grant awarded in 2001, with the bandstand and promenade rebuilt to their original designs in 2003 and restored again in 2017. It is managed by Urban Green Newcastle on the council's behalf. For families it is the best free green space within walking distance of the shops: a large woodland play area split into two age zones, tennis and basketball courts, table tennis, picnic and barbecue areas, and pram and wheelchair friendly paths. The west side sits directly beneath St James' Park, which looms over the trees.

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Blog posts and guides that feature Leazes Park.

Free Things to Do in Newcastle City Centre

Newcastle has four free museums and galleries, a Grade I listed covered market, two miles of medieval town wall, a thousand acres of common land and a free organ recital every Monday. Here is what genuinely costs nothing, and what used to be free but is not any more.