Old Durham Gardens

The estate, first mentioned in the 12th century, was appropriated by Robert Neville, Bishop of Durham, in 1443, and given to Kepier Hospital. It was sold during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and bought in 1569 by John Heath I. The gardens are thought to have been laid out by his descendant John Heath IV between 1630 and his death in 1665, when it passed to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband John Tempest. The Tempests moved away in 1719, but remained owners of the estate, and continued to use the gardens. They were renovated between 1725 and 1735. The mansion of the estate was demolished before 1776. In 1787 William Hutchinson described the gardens as a place of public recreation,…

The gardens, area about 1 ha, are a short distance east of the River Wear. The lower garden, to the west, is part flat, sloping steeply in the east towards the gazebo and the upper part of the gardens. Steps lead from the lower gardens to the gazebo, which dates from the early 17th century and was remodelled in the early 18th century;