The Town Moor is an area of

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who ha ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the la ...

. It covers an area of around , making it larger than Hyde Park and

Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band o ...

combined. It is also larger than New York City's

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 4 ...

(843 acres). The Town Moor reaches

Spital Tongues Spital Tongues is a district of Newcastle upon Tyne, located due north-west of the Newcastle City Centre. Its unusual name is believed to be derived from ''spital'' – a corruption of the word ''hospital'', commonly found in British place names ...

and the city centre to the south,

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2001, it had a populat ...

to the north and

Jesmond Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city. H ...

to the east (where it meets Exhibition Park). Freemen of the city have the right to graze cattle on the Town Moor. The rental income is distributed through the Town Moor Money Charity. The

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water managem ...

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of ...

, after whom the nearby Hancock Museum is named, produced a planned layout for the Town Moor in 1868, which was only partly realised. In 1873 a political demonstration in favour of full male suffrage took place on the moor which attracted 200,000 people, the largest recorded mass gathering to have taken place there. The Hoppings, said to be Europe's largest travelling fun fair, is held on the Town Moor during the last week in June. The area of common land is actually split up into several sections, of which the Town Moor is but the major part. The area is intersected by the

A189 road List of A roads in zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the lon ...

and the section on the other side of the road is known as Nuns Moor, and includes the Newcastle United Golf Club. Also part of Town Moor are Dukes Moor and Little Moor, both at its northern end, Hunters Moor to the west, and

Castle Leazes Castle Leazes is a piece of common land in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated in an area which separates Leazes Park and Spital Tongues. It has been in common ownership for over 700 years. This area of land was earmarked as the site of a new st ...

Moor to the south. The moor has recently had a pathway relaid with more street lighting and

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

. The Town Moor is mentioned in the

Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band consists of Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), and Tom English (drums). The band have released seven studio albums: '' A Certain Trigg ...

song "The Undercurrents".

Sports and horse racing

Since the 18th century the Town Moor has hosted a significant number of sports and recreational events including

rabbit coursing Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight, not by scent. In some countries, it is a legal, competitive activity in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

and

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This i ...

. In 1892 the Town Moor hosted a baseball event where Wallsend became the national champions. The Town Moor first hosted horse racing events in 1721 and competed with races held at

Killingworth Killingworth, formerly Killingworth Township, is a town in North Tyneside, England. Killingworth was built as a planned town in the 1960s, next to Killingworth Village, which existed for centuries before the Township. Other nearby towns and ...

Moor. The Town Moor's course was approximately two miles long, a triangular shape and located at the northern area of the moor, just south of

. Part of the course ran through a cutting which can still be seen in the grass at the north of the moor. In 1800 a permanent stone grandstand was built at the north end of the racecourse; a fire damaged it for a short time in 1844. The road in front of this grandstand is still called Grandstand Road to this day. From 1833 the

Northumberland Plate The Northumberland Plate is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newcastle over a distance of 2 miles and 56 yards (3,270 metres), and ...

horse race was hosted at the Town Moor. The Town Moor attracted the larger events than Killingworth, but by the summer of 1881 the Town Moor hosted its last race and racing moved to Gosforth Park that same year. A

Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

Isolation Hospital was built on the western side of Town Moor in 1882, and demolished by 1958. The site is still visible as a fenced linear copse or wooded area near the bottom of Cow Hill, the larger of the two hills on the west perimeter of the moor.

Events on the moor

*A mela (a celebration of Asian cuisine, music and art) is held annually over the August bank holiday weekend. *A

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

(5 km) takes place at 9 am every Saturday morning, and a junior parkrun (2 k) for 4-14 year kids at 9am every Sunday morning . *The

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South ...

starts on the western edge of the Town Moor, and both competitors and spectators gather on the Moor to access the start. The 2021 race, with its route altered to facilitate social distancing during the

Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, ended to the east of the Town Moor.

Aerodrome

Town Moor Aerodrome opened in June 1916. On 8 April 1921 a hangar at the aerodrome was destroyed by

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

by an

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief that ...

team led by Edward Kerrigan, after they overpowered the airfield's night-watchman. Two aircraft were also destroyed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Town Moor, Newcastle Upon Tyne Parks and open spaces in Newcastle upon Tyne

Sports and horse racing

Events on the moor

Aerodrome

See also

References