Stockton Waterfront Urban Park​ – Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton Waterfront Urban Park has opened on the former Castlegate Shopping Centre site and it looks incredible.

The £41.5 million park is three times the size of Trafalgar Square and connects Stockton High Street directly to the River Tees for the first time. A 55 metre wide land bridge spans the Riverside Road below,  the road still runs underneath through a tunnel, which feels surreal when you remember what was standing there before.

The main play area covers three zones, an adventure play, sand and water play, and inclusive play with a wheelchair accessible roundabout. There are giant timber climbing towers and embankment slides dropping 7 metres.

Leading down to the river is a 2,000 square metre amphitheatre with 402 granite steps inscribed with a poem by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and accessible ramp. If the steps aren’t your thing there’s an express slide taking you straight to the bottom right where you can board the Teesside Princess and cruise to Yarm or Preston Park.

Over 17,000 plants, 153 trees, a 64 metre People’s Wall, 1,000 clay sculptures made by local schoolchildren, and a solar powered steel sculpture celebrating the Stockton and Darlington Railway are all spread across the site.

Want to see what was here before? Watch the full Castlegate demolition and POV walkthrough here.