Monkwearmouth, sheepfold

HER Number:
17558

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Monkwearmouth, sheepfold

Place:
Monkwearmouth

Map Sheet:
NZ35NE

Class:
Agriculture and Subsistence

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Sheep Fold

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:
C14

Form of Evidence:
Placename Evidence

Description:
Cookson, citing Mitchell states that "a flock of up to 200 sheep is recalled in the area still called Sheepfolds". The sheepfold probably dates to the medieval period. By the end of the 14th century a substantial amount of land owned by the monastery had been rented out to tenants. The remainder of monastic land was worked by local labour, employed by the monks to grow crops. Buck's map of 1720 shows an irregular shaped field which survives into the 18th century. Sheep may have been corralled together in the enclosure to be washed in the river or transported across the river by the Panns Ferry.

Easting:
395

Northing:
575

Grid Reference:
NZ395575

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Northern Archaeological Associates, 2017, Sheepfolds, Sunderland - Archaeological Desk Based Assessment, Building Recording and Geological Assessment, p 26; G Cookson, undated, www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/explore/items/monkwearmouth-medieval-village-uncovered; W Mitchell, 1919, History of Sunderland