Jesmond Dene, a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in the east end of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, occupies the narrow steep-sided

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

of a small river known as the

Ouseburn The Ouseburn is a small river in Newcastle upon Tyne, England that flows through the city into the River Tyne, England, River Tyne. It gives its name to the Ouseburn Valley and the Ouseburn Ward (country subdivision), electoral ward for Newcas ...

, flowing south to join the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

. In north-east England, such valleys are commonly known as denes; the name '

Jesmond Jesmond ( ) is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, situated north of the city centre and to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher aver ...

' meaning 'mouth of the Ouseburn'. Lord Armstrong and his wife, of the now-demolished Jesmond Dean house nearby, first laid out the park during the 1860s. The design is intended to reflect a rural setting, with woodland, crags,

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

s and pools. Lord Armstrong gave the park, together with his

Banqueting Hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the s ...

, to the people of Newcastle in 1883 and the park opened to the public in the following year. It is now owned by

Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local authority for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear in North East England. Newcastle has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. ...

. The current

Jesmond Dene House Jesmond Dene House is a 19th-century mansion house at Jesmond Dene, Newcastle upon Tyne, England which is now a hotel. It is a listed building, Grade II listed building. History The house, which was designed by John Dobson (architect), John Dobso ...

adjoining the dene was the mansion of Armstrong's business partner Andrew Noble. It is now a luxury hotel. The (now closed to road traffic) iron-constructed Armstrong Bridge spans the south end of the Dene and hosts Jesmond Food Market every first and third Saturday of the month. The building of a replacement road and tunnel, the Cradlewell By-pass, was the subject of a road protest camp around 1993, due to the destruction of many 200-year-old trees. Jesmond Dene Pet Alpacas 1122

Jesmond Dene contains a free-entry

petting zoo A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many general ...

known as "Pets' Corner", which has been a popular family attraction since the 1960s. Jesmond Dene is home to Newcastle's oldest religious building, St Mary's Chapel. The chapel, now in ruins, was once a site of much significance, attracting a great number of pilgrims. The park is supported by a group called 'Friends of Jesmond Dene' which provides funds for small projects to improve the park. There is also a group of Volunteer Rangers which carries out physical work tidying the paths, picking up litter, cutting back shrubs and other maintenance tasks. The dawn chorus of Jesmond Dene has been professionally recorded and has been used in various workplace and hospital rehabilitation facilities. In 2011, the field area and pets corner were redeveloped. The redevelopment included a new road and a bridge over the Ouseburn river. In 2012, during excessively wet weather, a landslide occurred on the east side of the Dene, near the Old Mill. The landslide covered several footpaths running along the hillside. In July 2014, the Old Mill in the Dene was vandalised with graffiti tags, which have since been removed. On 1 April 2019, control and upkeep of Jesmond Dene, along with other Newcastle parks, was passed from Newcastle City Council to a newly created charitable trust, Urban Green Newcastle.

References

External links

* *{{OSM, w, 473628240
Jesmond Dene information website
Parks and open spaces in Newcastle upon Tyne Valleys of Tyne and Wear