Towards Heaton Park, from Heaton Park Rd

Image: © hayley green Taken: 3 Jan 2009

Taken at the number 1 bus stop on Heaton Park Rd, looking towards the gates of the park. The black and white timbered house that can be seen on the right is one of the oldest houses in the area and would once, no doubt, have been surrounded by fields. The history of the Park itself is that in the eighteenth century two powerful merchants Matthew White and Richard Ridley owned many collieries in Heaton. The families where united through marriage which meant their landholding in Heaton included virtually the whole township. The amalgamated estate was broken up and disposed of in 1835. Armourer Donkin was recorded as owning the land in 1840. Donkin a business partner of Armstrong bequeathed his land to Sir William Armstrong (1810 – 1900) in 1857. In 1878 Sir William Armstrong was already admitting public to his park. Mr Alderman Hedley cited it as a place the population could resort to therefore negating the need for large sums of money to be spent on acquiring the land. In June 1879 the Heaton section of Armstrong Park was opened by the Mayor Mr Alderman Thomas Robinson. This section amounting to 22 and a half acres was purchased from a Mr Addison Potter, at a cost of £12,562.10s

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