Carr-Ellison Park

Address: Canning Street, Hebburn, NE31 2UE
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Facilities

  • Adult football pitches
  • Bowling greens
  • Junior football
  • Pavilion
  • Play area
  • Tennis court
  • War memorials

History

In 1658 the Ellison family purchased the Hebburn Hall Estate (also known as Ellison Hall).

In 1897, Colonel Ralph Henry Carr Ellison allowed the residents of Hebburn the use of the pleasure gardens.

Access to the grounds of Hebburn Hall provided the first and key recreation area for the town.

The original gardens were comprised of a plantation, garden and nursery.  The sunken garden was a fish pond in the pleasure gardens of Hebburn Hall in the mid to late 19th century.

In 1920 Colonel Ralph Henry Carr Ellison presented 25 acres to the town as a park.

The park was named Hebburn Park and is located to the south of Hebburn Hall and is the location of the original gardens for the hall. 

The grounds of Hebburn Hall were further developed in the early 20th century and substantial development had ben undertaken within the grounds that included a bandstand, tennis court, bowling greens, aviary, greenhouses and the Boer War Memorial.

By 1942 the grounds had only undergone minor changes, including a name change to Carr Ellison Park and the insertion of a War Memorial south of the Hall. A putting green was added in the late 1950s.

Hebburn Hall Ponds, known locally as 'The Lakes', were four man-made ponds established through the damming of the Bede's Burn in about the 1870s to the south east of the park.

They were formed by the flooding of the land and their primary role was to provide fresh water to nearby industries.

Hebburn Hall Ponds were a dominant visual and social feature of the area, used for walking, socialising and swimming, and they had a boat house on the north bank of the northernmost pond.

The boat house was ruined by the mid 20th Century and the ponds were drained by 1968.

The park has Boer War, First and Second World War memorials.

In 1998 Carr-Ellison Park was given a "facelift" as a result of a quarter of million pounds grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund.