Gosforth Park is a park north of
Gosforth in the city of
Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It houses
Newcastle Racecourse, Virgin Money Unity Arena, a
Britannia hotel, two golf courses, a garden centre and a football centre. It is also home to
Gosforth Nature Reserve
Gosforth Nature Reserve is a wildlife haven in Tyne and Wear, England. It includes extensive woodland and wetland habitats and is managed by the Natural History Society of Northumbria. Access to the reserve is restricted to NHSN members and those ...
, a private
SSSI
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
managed by the
Natural History Society of Northumbria, consisting of a lake and woodland.
The park was laid out by Charles
Brandling (1733–1802), a wealthy coal-mine owner and local politician, to adorn his new mansion,
Gosforth House
Gosforth House now known as Brandling House is a Grade II listed building built as a mansion house and now serving as a hospitality and conference centre at Gosforth Park Racecourse, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
History
The Gosforth Park esta ...
(now Brandling House, the racecourse hospitality and conference centre), built 1755–64.
Up to the 1950s tramcars came into the park on race days through a special gate from what was then the
A1 Great North Road.
Between 2016 and 2019 the two walled gardens and
icehouse
Icehouse or ice house may refer to:
* Ice house (building), a building where ice is stored
* Ice shanty, a shelter for ice fishing also known as an ''Icehouse''
* Ice skating rink, a facility for ice skating.
* Ice hockey arena, an area where ice ...
at Gosforth Park were the subject of archaeological investigations by AAG Archaeology, prior to the gardens having houses built within them.
Hotel
The Gosforth Park Hotel, now in the
Britannia Hotels
Britannia Hotels is a British hotel group with 63 hotels in Great Britain. Britannia operates at the budget end of the market, and includes the Pontins Holiday Park portfolio. In recent years, Britannia Hotels has been a subject of #Controversie ...
chain, was originally built in 1965 and opened by the
Duke of Northumberland, and by 1986 was owned by
Scottish & Newcastle and run by
Thistle Hotels. Between being in the Thistle and Britannia portfolios it had been operated as a
Marriott.
Virgin Money Unity Arena
Virgin Money Unity Arena is the UK's first purpose built
socially distanced
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...
outdoor entertainment venue constructed in the grounds of Gosforth Park. During 2020 the
COVID-19 pandemic caused all concert and stand-up comedy events in the country to be cancelled. As the country came out of lockdown a number of efforts were made to re-start entertainment events including some drive-in venues.
The temporary outdoor venue site is and consists of 500 viewing spaces.
Each socially distanced viewing space can occupy up to 5 people bringing the maximum capacity of the venue to 2500. The first two concerts on 11 and 13 August by
North Tyneside singer
Sam Fender sold out in minutes.
The venue is operated by SSD Concerts and Engine No.4. The event's title sponsor is the
Virgin Money bank who have their headquarters in the nearby
Regent Centre business park.
References
External links
Virgin Money Unity Arena
Parks and open spaces in Newcastle upon Tyne
{{TyneandWear-geo-stub