8-9 Central Arcade, Newcastle upon Tyne - 0191 277 8000 tourist.info@newcastle.gov.uk

In the 12th century Heaton became part of the Barony of Ellingham granted by Henry I to Nicholas de Grenville. King John stayed in the castle at Heaton (the remains of which can still be seen in Heaton Park) on a number of occasions. In the 17th century the Heaton estate was purchased by Henry Babington who was knighted at Heaton Hall by James I on 1 May 1617.

By the 18th century, Heaton was a coal mining area with many of its collieries owned by Matthew White and Richard Ridley. The Heaton estate was broken up in 1835 when the area became officially incorporated into Newcastle upon Tyne. Much of the land in Heaton in 1840 was owned by Amourer Donkin, who on his death in 1857 bequeathed the land to his business partner, the industrialist Sir William Armstrong.

In 1879, the corporation acquired part of the Heaton Hall estate, which was then laid out as Heaton Park, and Sir William Armstrong donated Armstrong Park and Jesmond Dene to the city. The three parks run into each other to form a green corridor through east Newcastle.