Saltwell Park - Principal Attractions

Principal Attractions

There are eleven listed buildings in Saltwell Park. Saltwell Towers, former home of William Wailes and later to lawyer Joseph Shipley (founder of the nearby Shipley Art Gallery), was the seat of the former Saltwellgate estate and has been described by a BBC report as a "fairytale mansion". The building is a dark red and yellow brick construction with asymmetrical towers, tall chimney stacks and corner turrets. The building has been used for a number of purposes, including as a hospital during the First World War and as a museum from 1933 to 1969, but it was then abandoned and fell into considerable disrepair. However, after a £3 million, five-year refurbishment programme was completed in 2004, the building was officially reopened as a visitors centre in the presence of Wailes' great, great grandson. Saltwell Towers today includes a cafe, some pieces of local art, an exhibition on the history of the park and also a stained glass centrepiece commissioned from a local artist. A Gateshead Blue Plaque in commemoration of Wailes was installed in 2005. The mansion was listed by English Heritage in 1973 as a Grade II building, along with the two storey, sandstone belvedere walls which surround the west and south of the mansion. These are replete with stairs and corner battlements and the entire walls are conjoined by a walkway which is open to the public.

To the north-west of Saltwell Towers there is a stable block, built in 1871 in the same style as the mansion in red brick and with a slate roof. This is a Grade II listed building and is now an educational area for schools and local community groups. Also to the north-west of Saltwell Towers is the Charlton Memorial Drinking Fountain, a stone and granite fountain inscribed in memory of George Charlton, the mayor of Gateshead between 1874–5. This is Grade II listed, as is the 'Salte Well' at the west entrance to the central section of the park. This is a sandstone construction, dated 1872, with a basin in the central alcove. Midway along the Broadwalk in the north section of the park is a Grade II listed statue of Alderman John Lucas. This is a bronze statue on a sandstone plinth and granite base. Built in 1902, it was paid for by public subscription. The wrought iron gates and accompanying stone piers which greet visitors at the north-eastern entrance to the park are also Grade II listed.

There are three war memorials in the park. There is a Boer War memorial in the central section of the park around 100 metres south of Saltwell Towers. This consists of a bronze angel perched on a granite plinth and is dated 1905. A modern Durham Light Infantry memorial was unveiled on 12 July 1981 by the mayor of Newcastle. This takes the form of a sandstone wall with adjoining flanking walls which create a small ornamental garden. There are three plaques and a description commemorating men of the battalion who died in battle between 1900–45. The third war memorial is the bridge adjoining the lawned, central gardens to the belvedere walls of Saltwell Towers. This timber footbridge, 22 feet (6.7 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, is named the Primosole Bridge and is a copy of the original Edwardian bridge which once crossed the ha-ha. The name is carved onto a low stone wall which runs alongside and an inscription commemorates the men of the Durham Light Infantry who died whilst crossing the original Primosole Bridge during Operation Fustian in the Second World War.

The principal feature of the northern section of the park is a boating lake. This has been in situ since a tender to install a 4 acres (1.6 ha) lake with an island in the centre was accepted in August 1880. An approach to Joseph Swan to illuminate the lake received no response, but a further approach to John Hancock to design the lake edge was more successful; the lake edge today still follows Hancock's original design. Model boating has been a fixture of the lake since 1886 and the Saltwell Park Model Boat Club is the latest organisation to use the lake for this purpose. The island in the centre of the lake was in 1909 home to a bandstand, and visiting performers were required to travel by boat to the island, but the bandstand was moved to the Saltwell Grove section of the park in 1921. During the summer months, visitors can hire rowing boats and pedalos for use on the lake. Generations of visitors have stood at the side of the lake to "feed the ducks", but this is something of a misnomer– whilst the lake has long been inhabited by mallard and tufted ducks, it is also home to several other species of wildfowl, including swans, Canada and barnacle geese, coot and moorhen. Common pochard and grebe also inhabit the lake in winter after migrating from Russia and central Europe. Kingfisher are also reported to have returned to the lake after a lengthy absence.

There have been animals kept in Saltwell Park since June 1877. In the immediate years after the park opened these included monkeys, deer and a raccoon. Caged animals are still kept in the north-east of the park in an area called Pets Corner, where there are a peacock and peahen, pheasants, rabbits and guinea pigs kept in a pair of aviaries built in 1880 and paid for by John Elliot, then chief constable of Gateshead. The aviaries are stone and wrought iron, octagonal constructions which were listed at Grade II by English heritage in 1973. A bandstand was erected in 1876 and this was replaced in May 1895 by an octagonal, red-brick, cast-iron and wood structure which was first sited in the northern fields. This was then moved to the island in the lake and moved again to Saltwell Grove. It was taken down and rebuilt at Beamish Museum in 1978, where it remains in use and has been designated a Grade II listed building. The present bandstand is in the Saltwell Grove area and is used every Sunday during the summer months by brass bands.

In the western shadow of Saltwell Towers there is a maze, built in 1877 by Wailes for his family's use. The maze was replanted with yew trees as part of the 2005 regeneration project to the original plans laid by Wailes. Also renovated was Saltwell Dene, a picturesque wooded area with a stream, bridges, cascades and a lily pond which inspired local artist Thomas Miles Richardson to paint a watercolour of it in the 19th century. Saltwell Dene was the final part of the 21st century restoration project to be completed, reopening to the public in March 2005. At either end of the Broadwalk there are two wooden shelters whilst the centre of the Broadwalk is marked by the Almond Pavilion. The pavilion was opened in 1881 and was a refreshment pavilion for decades before it fell into disrepair; by the 1980s it was derelict and it was then completely destroyed by fire. It has been fully reconstructed, including a replica of the original clock tower, and is once more a refreshment kiosk with new toilet facilities. It offers panoramic views into the northern fields and across the boating lake. An oriental garden was opened in 2011 to mark the twenty-year anniversary of the twinning arrangement between Gateshead and Komatsu. This includes a gravel pond, waterfalls and stone lanterns. The park is also host to three well used bowling greens, replete with their own pavilion (the Avenue Green Pavilion) and a rose garden.

Various other attractions have been installed and subsequently removed from the park, including a paddling pool, a museum and, from 1982 to 1993, a retired and modified Vickers Viscount 701 airplane. The aircraft had its wings cut short and was marked "Saltwell Airways".