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Exhibition Park


Exhibition Park is a short walk from Newcastle City Centre; the main entrance is off Claremont Road. It became known as Exhibition Park after the park was used for the location of the Royal Jubilee Exhibition of 1887. Prior to that it was known as 'Bull Park', formed on a corner of the Town Moor. The park's bandstand was built in 1875, and is a Grade II listed. In 1929 the park was used for the venue of the extravagant North East Coast Exhibition. The Palace of Arts (now hosting Wylam Brewery) was one of the many developments for the 1929 exhibition. Exhibition Park underwent an extensive £3.2m restoration programme in 2014/15.[1] This included a new children’s play area, skate park, new cafe, engineering work on the lake and a number of other improvements.

The Exhibition Park is a short walk from Newcastle City Centre.

History

The 1870 Town Moor Improvement Act determined that 2 x 35acres of land to be developed for recreation one would become Leazes Park and one at the Town Moor. The original location of the park was to be the Bull Park where the City’s bull was penned for stud. The site was the wedge of land at the corner of Claremont Road and the Great North Road. Later this land became the Hancock Museum. The committee realised that the Bull Park was too small for the Exhibition and requested Town moor recreation ground. This is where the current park is now. The Royal Jubilee Exhibition was duly held in 1887 and proved a tremendous success and attracted 2,000,000 visitors.

The name Exhibition Park was first used during the Jubilee Exhibition of 1887 but the old name of Bull Park remained for some time. The only remaining item from the 1887 Exhibition is the bandstand.

The North East Coast Exhibition

This exhibition was held at the Exhibition Park from May to October 1929 and was opened by HRH the Prince of Wales on 14 May 1929. It was a symbol of pride and industrial success of the region and at the same time an advertisement for local industry and commerce. The disused military museum is the only building still remaining in the park today from this exhibition.

The Science Museum, Exhibition Park

Until 1983 a Science Museum was located in the Exhibition Park pavilion. The museum was founded in 1934. It housed for a period Turbinia. The collections in the main transferred to Discovery Museum. A military vehicle museum was then housed here 1983-2006.

The city council put the building up for sale in 2011, declaring that it could no longer afford repairs. It was purchased by Shepherd Offshore Ltd who stated that they intended to create a collection of horse-drawn carriages and vintage automobiles. The planned opening date is Easter 2015.

Tyneside Summer Exhibition

This event began to be held by the city council in the 1960s, and attempted to capture many of the elements of the earlier exhibitions, however, it was last held in 1986 when a £60,000 loss was recorded.

Exhibition Park today

Facilities

  • There are two croquet lawns, two tennis courts and one basketball court.
  • There is a fenced playground with safety surface containing swings, slides, climbing frames, spring toys and seating.
  • A disused boating lake.
  • A park café (rarely open, and during spring and summer months only).
  • A skatepark has been developed at the main entrance to Exhibition Park.
  • The Tyneside Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (TSMEE) operate a miniature railway in the park.

Events in the Park

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

Refurbishment

Exhibition Park was restored by a £3million redevelopment programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund which had a projected completion date of late Summer 2014.

The refurbishment scheme included the following:

  • Installation of a new children’s play area, which includes outdoor gym equipment.
  • Traditional style railings and gates at the park entrance.
  • A new skate park adjacent to the current one.
  • New LED lighting in the underpass leading into the park.
  • Resurfacing of the tennis courts.
  • Restoration of the bandstand based on the original catalogue design.
  • Reconstruction of the cafe with a new events/performance area adjacent.
  • Engineering works to the lake to improve the environment and prevent flooding.

The park was officially reopened in July 2015.

Transport links

The nearest Metro and bus stations are at Haymarket and a taxi rank is located at Park Terrace near the park entrance.

Bibliography

  • Baglee, Christopher. The North-East Coast Exhibition, 1929. Frank Graham, 1979, ISBN 0-85983-175-2
Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 23/08/2017).
Visit the page: Exhibition Park, Newcastle for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.

Newcastle City Centre North East Coast Exhibition, 1929 Parks and Open Spaces Near Newcastle City Centre Parks and Gardens Brandling Park Historic Buildings and Monuments in Newcastle Newcastle Jubilee Exhibition 1887 Local List Spital Tongues Bandstand, Exhibition Park Freemen's Clock Tower, Exhibition Park Wylam Brewery (Palace of Arts), Exhibition Park
from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
069776:Bull Park Spital Tongues Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown Undated

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Bandstand, Exhibition Park

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
053234:Exhibition Park Spital Tongues Newcastle upon Tyne City Engineers c.1970s

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
042690:Exhibition Park Spital Tongues Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown 1950s

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
028787:Exhibition Park Spital Tongues Newcastle upon Tyne City Engineers 1975

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
012510:Exhibition Park Spital Tongues Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown c.1910

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
022083:Park Terrace Newcastle upon Tyne Signey J. 1972

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
012420:Exhibition Park Spital Tongues Newcastle upon Tyne c.1910

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
040999:Exhibition Dome Newcastle 900 Newcastle upon Tyne City Engineers 1980

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dscn8376

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
052208:Boating Lake and Palace of Arts North East Coast Exhibition Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown 1929

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
022772:Dog Show ?North East Coast Exhibition Town Moor Newcastle upon Tyne Unknown c.1929

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from http://www.twsitelines.info/S…
Tyne and Wear HER(5063): Newcastle, Exhibition Park
- "The Exhibition Park was the site of the Royal Jubilee Exhibition of 1887 and the North East Coast Exhibition, which opened on May 14th 1929 The 125 acre site was …

Added by
Simon Cotterill
from http://www.chroniclelive.co.u…
Newcastle's Exhibition Park re-opens after £3.2m restoration programme
- Chronicle Live, 10th July, 2015. "Revived Exhibition Park is result of a 15-year battle to halt decline of historic green oasis in the centre of Newcastle....Opened in 1878 in a …

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from Flickr (flickr)
Croquet Lawn

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
042762:Claremont Road Spital Tongues City Engineers 1969

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Exhibition Park lake, Newcastle upon Tyne

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from Newcastle University (youtube)
Five Minutes At The North East Coast Exhibition Newcastle (1929)

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from Youtube (youtube)
Wylam Brewery / Exhibiton Park

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from Geograph (geograph)
Bowling Green Clock Tower, Exhibition Park

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Model railway, Exhibition Park, Newcastle upon Tyne

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from Geograph (geograph)
Model railway, Exhibition Park, Newcastle upon Tyne

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Café in Exhibition Park

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from Geograph (geograph)
Looking towards the cafe in Exhibition Park, Newcastle

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Tree lined path, Exhibition Park

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Bridge and subway below Great North Road

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Exhibition Park

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Exhibition Park Skate Park 2

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Entrance to Exhibition Park

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Brandling Park
  Co-Curate Page
Brandling Park
- Summary Map Brandling Park is road and the name of a small park in the Brandling Village area in the suburb of Jesmond, in Newcastle. The park has a men's …
Spital Tongues
  Co-Curate Page
Spital Tongues
- Overview About Spital Tongues Map Timeline Street View Spital Tongues is a historic area in the north west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had been a separate village until the …
Newcastle Jubilee Exhibition 1887
  Co-Curate Page
Newcastle Jubilee Exhibition 1887
- Royal Mining Engineering Jubilee Exhibition 1887 "The exhibition was intended to be held in 1886 but it was decided to defer the event to associate it with the Queen Victoria …
from Flickr (flickr)
Exhibition Park, Newcastle

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Exhibition Park

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Exhibition Park - Newcastle

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Exhibition Park Stone, Newcastle Jesmond

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Exhibition park lake - Newcastle 1937

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