Haunted Jesmond dene

Описание: History of The Dene


Today, Jesmond Dene and the adjoining Armstrong Park and Heaton Park are used by local people and visitors to enjoy walking and other leisure activities. But it was not always like this. In earlier times, over a period of many hundreds of years, there were water mills in the Ouseburn Valley to grind corn from local farms. Later, with the coming of the Industrial Revolution these rural mills were joined by other industries and the whole valley was a hive of activity.
To appreciate how the valley we now call Jesmond Dene was formed, it is necessary to go back some 300 million years when this area was one vast delta. As time passed, the waters of the delta receded, leaving behind massive deposits of sediment which, over the years, became compounded to form the shale and sandstone layers present in the Dene today. Following the Ice Age, the great glaciers melted and many rivers and streams formed which cut their way to the sea. The Ouseburn was one of those glacial streams and played its part in the formation of the Dene. Rising on Callerton Fell, near Ponteland, some eight miles from the Dene and in its early days probably a raging torrent, the Ouseburn on its journey to the River Tyne gouged the deep valley which now forms the Dene.

The warmer climate also brought vegetation and over the years large areas of Northumberland became covered with great forests. The Ouseburn valley became covered in a dense forest of oak, ash, holly and hazel and this tree selection can still be seen today, particularly near Castles Farm Bridge at the North end of the Dene, although other species are intermixed. It would have remained a quiet wooded valley for thousands of years and been populated by bears, beaver, wolves and wild boar.During the last several hundred years, improved farming methods and the beginnings of industrialisation began to see some woodlands being cut down to satisfy the growing demand for timber and farmland, especially where the landscape was relatively flat and accessible.

Jesmond Dene’s watermill c. 1910 via Newcastle Libraries on Flickr
It is probable that the steep sided valley we know as Jesmond Dene has always been wooded, but gradually, industries crept in and by the 19th century the Dene was home to watermills, various quarries and pits and an iron foundry. Prior to the mid 1800s the woodland was probably more straggly than today and interspersed with a heavy undergrowth of gorse, brambles and the like.

In the 1850s William George Armstrong (later Lord Armstrong) the armament manufacturer, (later Lord Armstrong of Cragside, Northumberland) bought up large areas of the valley. With his wife, he enclosed the land and transformed it into the landscaped parkland that we know today. With his fascination for water it is no surprise that he altered the river. A large waterfall, weirs and rock islands were created near to the mill, along with several bridges including the one from which to view the waterfall, and a network of footpaths. The waterfall is the biggest alteration to the river and was a result of blasting out the river bed downstream, while building up the area upstream. He also had a bridge installed to enable viewing of the waterfall. They additionally introduced exotic non-native species of trees and shrubs such as cedars, junipers, Californian Redwoods and the rhododendron.


Lord Armstrong

In the 1850s, William George Armstrong (later Lord Armstrong) the armament manufacturer, acquired at various times the land which now forms Jesmond Dene. He enclosed the land and planted it with exotic trees and shrubs, laid paths and built bridges. Lord Armstrong used the Dene as his own private parkland but allowed access to it by the public twice weekly, on payment of a small entrance fee which went to the local hospital.
In 1883 Lord Armstrong presented the main area of Jesmond Dene to the Corporation of Newcastle upon Tyne for the benefit of its citizens and in 1884, the park was formally opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales. To commemorate the occasion, the Princess planted a turkey Oak near the Banqueting Hall. This tree, now mature, can still be seen adjacent to the South end of the Banqueting Hall, near to a second tree planted by Alderman H Benson in 1933 to mark the 50th anniversary of the occasion. Since then, the Dene has remained a popular resort for the citizens of Newcastle and, despite heavy pressures put upon it, still retains a particular charm