According to a report in North Mail of 8 August 1956, the Duke of Northumberland was presented with a red rose by Newburn Urban Council. This was rent for a ‘strip of land granted to the Duke’s descendants in 1329’ which until two years ago had remained derelict:

‘Then the council decided to turn the weed patch into a beauty spot.  They asked the Duke to rent them the site.  The cost, decreed by the Duke would be one red rose, payable each year at the time of the council’s August meeting.’

According to Margaret Gascoigne, in her Discovering English Customs & Traditions, ed.2 (1980), this is ‘a recently created custom, instituted only in 1955’.

Newburn is now part of the metropolitan borough of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and it is unknown if the rent continues to be paid.

Additional material added 9 February 2024.