Sunderland Borough

HER Number:
170

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Sunderland Borough

Place:
Sunderland

Map Sheet:
NZ45NW

Class:
Civil

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Town

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:
C12

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Initially the settlement seems to have been referred to as "the port of Wearmouth". In 1180-83 Bishop Hugh Puiset granted a borough charter to "Wearmouth", and though it is not certain whether this meant Bishopwearmouth or Sunderland it is usually assumed it was the latter. The whole borough of Sunderland was at lease c.1380 and was in serious decline in 1565, but revived by the growing coal trade from the late 16th century. The shape of the early settlement is clear from early maps. It consisted of the High Street, parallel to the river, running between Coney warren (?Barrack Street) at the east to Sans Street at the west. On the south side long burgages and lanes extended from High Street back to the later Coronation St and Prospect Row, with the Town Moor beyond. On the north side short alleys connected High St with Low St, and Low St with the quays. The skeletal outline survives, but the detail has gone as the result of slum clearance and later rebuilding.

Easting:
405

Northing:
573

Grid Reference:
NZ405573

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 170 >> W. Greenwell, ed. 1852, Boldon Buke, Surtees Society, Vol. 25, pp. 46, xli-xlii W. Greenwell, ed. 1856, Bishop Hatfield's Survey, Surtees Society, Vol. 32, p. 137 M.H. Dodds, 1915, The Bishop's Boroughs, Archaeologia Aeliana, 3, XII, pp. 81-185 M. Clay, G.E. Milburn & S.T. Miller, 1984, An Eye Plan of Sunderland and Bishopwearmouth, 1785-1790 W. Hutchinson,1823, The History of...Durham, Vol. II, pp. 647-678 R. Surtees, 1816, The History of...Durham, Vol. I, pp. 253-268, 297 S. & R. Buck, 1728,The Perspective and Ichnography of the Town of Sunderland... Burleigh and Thompson, 1737 - Sunderland Museum T. Forster, 1742, Survey of Sunderland Moor TWCMS B 8176- Sunderland Museum J.W. Corder, The Corder MSS, Sunderland Parish, Sunderland Library Local Studies W. Page, ed. 1905, Victoria County History, I, pp.. 307, 313n Rev. T. Randell, 1903, History of the Parish Boundaries in...Sunderland and...neighbourhood, Antiquities of Sunderland, II, pp. 1-16 G.W. Bain, 1903, The Natural Boundary between Bishopwearmouth and Sunderland Parishes, Antiquities of Sunderland, II, pp. 17-27 B. Morton, 1905, The History of the Sunderland Moor... Antiquities of Sunderland, IV, pp. 23-35 J.T. Kitts, 1912, The old-time Fields and Gardens of Sunderland, Antiquities of Sunderland, XI, pp. 53-68 T. Corfe, 1973, Sunderland J. Fordyce, 1857, History of...Durham, Vol. 2, pp. 391-548 G. Garbutt, 1819, A Historical View...of Sunderland W.C. Mitchell, 1919, History of Sunderland, E. Mackenzie & M. Ross, 1834, Historical...View...of Durham, Vol. 2, pp. 257-324 W. Lewin, 1715, A Scheme of the New Town of Sunderland, TWCMS B 8167-Sunderland Museum 1826, Sunderland,Sunderland Library Local Studies Thomas Robson and sons, 1844, Sunderland, Sunderland Library Local Studies Ordnance Survey maps, 1855, Sunderland, 1st ed. 1:2500, 8.14 and 8.15 -Sunderland Library Local Studies Photo 19th century, Sunderland -Sunderland Library Local Studies Photo 19th century, Sunderland- Sunderland Museum M. Beresford, 1967, New Towns of the Middle Ages, pp. 431-2 W.H.D. Longstaffe, 1889, Unused Evidences relating to SS. Cuthbert and Bede, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XIII, pp. 278-283 R. Brown, 1855, An Inquiry into the Origin of the Name 'Sunderland'; Archaeologia Aeliana, 1, IV, pp. 277-83 S. Speak, 1993, Wylam Wharf/Low Street, Sunderland W.B. Griffiths, 1994, Wylam Wharf, Sunderland. Interim Account of Excavations... Northern Archaeological Associates, 2003, Low Street, Sunderland, Archaeological Assessment; M.M. Meikle and C.M. Newman, 2007, Sunderland and its Origins - monks to mariners; Ian Nairn, 1964, A Townscape Gazetteer - County Durham, Architectural Review, Vol. 135 (1964) p 120