The Lort Burn is a subterranean
burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
. It used to flow through the centre of the city into the
Tyne but was essentially used as an open sewer, particularly unpleasant since the meat markets backed onto it. The name may derive from the Old Norse 'lortr' meaning 'filth' or 'excrement'.
[{{Cite web, url=http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oi_cleasbyvigfusson/b0398.html, title = Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0398] In 1696 it was put underground, and in 1749
Dean Street
Dean Street is a street in Soho, central London, running from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue.
Historical figures and places
In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then a young boy, gave a recital at 21 Dean Street.
Admiral Nelson stayed ...
was built following its course (hence the street name, from
dene
The Dene people () are an Aboriginal peoples in Canada, indigenous group of First Nations in Canada, First Nations who inhabit the northern Boreal forest of Canada, boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languag ...
); as was its extension,
Grey Street, in the 1830s.
The burn starts in
Leazes Park
Leazes Park is a Grade II listed park urban park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the city's oldest park, opened in 1873, and lies to the west of the city centre. The park contains a lake above the course of the Lort Burn. It is next t ...
.
Geography of Newcastle upon Tyne