Stewart Park is a 120-acre public

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, in the suburb and former village of Marton,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It holds a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

from the Civic Trust. The Middlesbrough campus of Askham Bryan College and the

Captain Cook Birthplace Museum Captain Cook Birthplace Museum is a public museum located in Stewart Park in Marton, Middlesbrough within the borough of Middlesbrough and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is one of two institutions managed by Middlesb ...

are within its grounds.

History

The park was the estate of

Henry Bolckow Henry William Ferdinand Bolckow, originally Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Bölckow, (8 December 1806 – 18 June 1878) was a Victorian industrialist and Member of Parliament, acknowledged as being one of the founders of modern Middlesbrough. In a ...

one of Middlesbrough's

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

s and the borough's first mayor. Bolckow landscaped the estate and in 1858 built Marton Hall in the estate. To indicate the site of the cottage where

Captain James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

was born he had erected a pink granite vase still present today. The estate was eventually bought by Councillor Thomas Dormand Stewart, in 1924, for the people of Middlesbrough. Stewart intended it to be "a public possession, open and accessible to all the people, at all times". Stewart's Park was officially opened to the public on 23 May 1928.

Post war

After the Second World War, Marton Hall stood empty for many years in a state of disrepair. In January 1959, the Borough engineer, A Kenyon, stated in a report, "The Hall....was of no wide historic or architectural value" and that renovations would cost in the region of £25,000. The council decided to demolish the building. Work to demolish the Hall started in May 1960, but on 6 June a fire broke out and tore through the building. The ten fire appliances sent to tackle fire were hampered by the lack of water supply in the area, and the building was destroyed. The hall's conservatory continued to be open to the public for a number of years, but was eventually demolished in the mid-1990s. A stone loggia next to the

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

is all that is left of the hall. The remaining Victorian estate buildings were later utilised as park depot buildings and council offices. The

(opened October 1978) is also within the park, which was built over the eastern part of Marton. In September 1998, an archaeological survey showed evidence of this part of Marton. In 2003, the eastern part of Marton village (misleadingly called "East Marton" as if it was a separate village) was the subject of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's archaeological television programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'', presented by

Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...

Today

The park covers about and consists mainly of mature woodland and

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

on the south side, with open parkland on the northern side. There are two lakes, which are the home to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

greylag geese The greylag goose or graylag goose (''Anser anser'') is a species of large goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae and the type species of the genus ''Anser (bird), Anser''. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and ...

moorhen Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus ''Gallinula'', Latin for "little hen". They are close relatives of coots. They are of ...

coot Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually ...

s and various types of

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

. A pets' corner houses several types of domesticated animals:

fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes, ...

, highland cattle,

llama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with othe ...

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

peacocks Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are ref ...

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

s and

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

s. Part of the Victorian estate complex is open to the public and includes a cafe, and visitor centre. Various nature, heritage, orienteering and tree trails are provided in the park. Play areas for children include a climbing frame named after ''

HMS Endeavour HMS ''Endeavour'' was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Australia and New Zealand on his First voyage of James Cook, first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771. She was launched in 1764 as the Coll ...

'', Captain James Cook's ship. The Captain Cook Birthplace museum is situated in the middle of the park and is open to visitors from April to November. The temple folly, loggia, Captain Cook memorial and Victorian estate complex are all listed buildings.; ; ;

Events

Captain Cook Museum

The

holds regular events including school group visits alongside the regular visitor opening hours.

Parkrun

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) ...

takes place every Saturday morning at 9 am. The run, one of 1,400 nationally, is a free event which encourages people to run a weekly 5 km course to improve fitness.

Farmers' Market

On the last Sunday of each month, Northern Dales Farmers' Market hold a monthly event in the park, including a craft fair.

Cleveland Show

The park also hosts larger events in the summer such as, fairgrounds and the annual agricultural showpiece, the Cleveland Show. The Cleveland Show is the biggest one day agricultural show in the north east of England. It first took place in 1944 and is held annually on the fourth Saturday of July. The Show celebrated its 75th year in 2018.

Other events

It has also been the venue for various

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

events including the 2019 edition of

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...

, which saw the park welcome over 64,000 visitors during the course of the weekend festival and host performances from more than 50 artists, including Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Stormzy, The 1975 and Little Mix.

Askham Bryan College

In 2015, Askham Bryan College took over ownership of the Grade II listed Central Lodge building. The college runs courses in animal care and horticulture. In January 2017, the college began renovation work on the Central Lodge, with £3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Renovation work included repairs to the roof and the general fabric of the building, the creation of lecture rooms, a science lab, animal handling areas, workshops and a reception area. It reopened to students in September 2017, and is Askham Bryan College's principal land-based education centre in the

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a mayoral combined authority and Local enterprise partnership area in northern England, around the River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The LEP was established in 2011 and the combined authority was establish ...

region.

References

{{Middlesbrough Parks in Middlesbrough