Roker Park is a recreation park in the

Roker Roker ( ) is a seaside resort in Sunderland, city of Sunderland district, Tyne and Wear. England. It is located north of the River Wear and Monkwearmouth, east of the southern part of Fulwell with the coastal resort of Seaburn to its nort ...

area of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, England. The land on which the park stands was donated by

Sir Hedworth Williamson, 8th Baronet Sir Hedworth Williamson, 8th Baronet (25 March 1827 – 26 August 1900) was a British diplomat and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1864 to 1874. Williamson was the son of Sir Hedworth Williamson, 7th Baronet and h ...

and the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

, and opened on 23 June 1880.Wearside On-line – Roker Park
. The park is roughly an upside down reversed 'L' shape. It is bounded by Park Parade to the south, Roker Park Terrace to the east, Roker Park Road to the west and Side Cliff Road to the north. The northern part of the park is the widest and fronts onto Roker beach via a ravine, which passes under a wooden footbridge. In the centre of the park is a large freeform

boating lake A boating lake is a lake used for recreational boating. Such lakes are often in parks and can be artificially made. Some boating lakes are used for model boats. References External links * Lakes by type Lakes A lake is often ...

which is used for remote-controlled model boating. In the northwest corner of the park is a model narrow gauge railtrack which was built in the 1970s. There are two

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

s as well as

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and multi-purpose sports courts.

Listed buildings

Bandstand

The park's bandstand is octagonal,

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

with a wood base and a metal-covered roof.

Drinking fountain

The memorial drinking fountain in the park commemorates Sir Hedworth's gift of land for Roker Park. It is made of

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and was erected by 'scholars, teachers and friends of

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

s in Sunderland to commemorate the celebration of the centenary of Sunday Schools and the opening of Roker Park June 23 1880.

Sunderland Illuminations

Sunderland Illuminations were formerly held in Roker Park and Seaburn from late September until early November, branded as the Festival of Light, until their move to

Mowbray Park Mowbray Park is a municipal park in the centre of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, located a few hundred yards from the busy thoroughfares of Holmeside and Fawcett Street and bordered by Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens to the north, B ...

in Sunderland city centre.

Gallery

File:Roker Park Ravine bridge.jpg, The bridge carrying the A183 coast road over Roker Park Ravine File:Spottee's Cave.jpg, "Spottee's Cave"

References

Parks and open spaces in Tyne and Wear Urban public parks Tourist attractions in the City of Sunderland Grade II listed buildings in Tyne and Wear Boating lakes Sunderland 1880 establishments in England {{TyneandWear-geo-stub