When the Brandling family took over the land and built their large estate house they had the surrounding area landscaped, as was the fashion of the day.

[1] The Brandling family fell on hard times and sold off the estate towards the end of the 19th century and from that period onwards nature began to take over.

[2] Gosforth Nature Reserve contains an important wetland, which is dominated by Phragmites reeds and open water and surrounded by wet carr woodland.

The citation includes: The locality is regionally important for its aquatic, grassland and woodland invertebrate faunas which include two nationally rare species, a small beetle Triplax scutellaris and Adrena alfkenella, a solitary bee.The nature reserve is still part of Newcastle Racecourse, which as of 2015[update] is owned by Arena Racing Company.

The reserve is open to members of the Natural History Society of Northumbria; non-members can buy a visitor pass upon arrival.

[5] NHSN holds regular public open days on-site and hosts a range of activities for school groups and local people.