Roker Park is a recreation park in the

Roker Roker () is a tourist resort and affluent area of Sunderland, North East England, bounded on the south by the River Wear and Monkwearmouth, on the east by the North Sea, to the west by Fulwell and on the north by Seaburn. It is administere ...

area of Sunderland,

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

, England. The land on which the park stands was donated by Sir Hedworth Williamson, 8th Baronet and the Church Commissioners, 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 A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, a ...

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 racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

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 more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

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,

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) 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 cools and solidifies under ...

and was erected by 'scholars, teachers and friends of Sunday Schools 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 light up Roker Park and Seaburn from late September until early November.

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