Monkwearmouth village

HER Number:
51

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Monkwearmouth village

Place:
Monkwearmouth

Map Sheet:
NZ35NE

Class:
Domestic

Site Type: Broad:
Settlement

Site Type: Specific:
Village

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:
C11

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
The earliest reference to Monkwearmouth village is from 1075 when the vill of Wearmouth was granted to Aldwin at Wearmouth. It remained a possession of the priory of Durham until the Dissolution. In 1345 18 tenants held 17 tofts and 1 cottage there; by 1539 there were only 4 named tenants. Its subsequent relationship with the township of Monkwearmouth Shore is not clear, and it is puzzling that the village was not physically related to the church of St. Peter's and its immediate surroundings. Historic maps suggest it consisted of two long east-west streets above the Wear. The north one in the mid-19th century was John Street and Broad Street, now subsumed into Roker Avenue, the south one was Thomas Street and the Causeway. Their west ends lie on the major junction on the Newcastle Road. The east end of the village is Church Street. There is a huge space between them which could perhaps be interpreted as a green. However, the area is now very much rebuilt, making the interpretation of its medieval extent and layout extremely problematic.

Easting:
399

Northing:
580

Grid Reference:
NZ399580

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 51 >> DUL Archives & Special Collections Durham Dean and Chapter MSS, med. Bursar's accounts DUL Archives & Special Collections Durham Dean and Chapter MSS, med. Bursar's rental W. Greenwell, ed. 1871, Feodarium Prioratus Dunelmensis, Surtees Society, 58, pp. lxxxiii, 17, 82, 94, 120, 311 W.H.D. Longstaffe & J. Booth, eds. 1889, Durham Halmote Rolls, Surtees Society, I 82, passim, C.M. Fraser, 1955, Gilly-Corn and the Customary of the Convent of Durham, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, XXXIII, pp. 35-60 W. Hutchinson, 1787, History of...Durham, Vol. II, pp. 629-36 R. Surtees, 1820, History of...Durham, Vol. II, pp. 1, 7 DUL Archives & Special Collections Church Commissioners, 1779, Monkwearmouth, Southwick and Fulwell, C.C. 13654 DUL Archives & Special Collections Church Commissioners, 1812, Monkwearmouth, map and survey book, C.C. 13656, 13657 Wm. Lewin, 1714, Survey of the Manor of Monkwearmouth - Sunderland Museum Rev. J. Raine, ed. 1854, The Inventories and Account Rolls of Jarrow and Monkwearmouth, Surtees Society, 29, pp. 195-6, 198, Burleigh and Thompson, 1737, Plan of the mouth of the River Wear -Sunderland Museum Sunderland Museum, 1826, Sunderland, Bishopwearmouth and Monkwearmouth DUL Archives & Special Collections Ordnance Survey maps, 1st ed., 1:2500, viii.10 DUL Archives & Special Collections, Tithe maps, 1840, Monkwearmouth; ARS Ltd. 2011, Land to the north of Lower Dundas Street, Sunderland - Archaeological Evaluation; Whellan, W, 1856, History, Topography and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham