During the 17th century, Sunderland's coal export trade became the mainstay of its economy.
There is evidence of some small scale salt production in Sunderland during the later middle ages.
Whilst there is some evidence of small scale coal exporting in medieval Sunderland it was not until the closing decades of the 16th century that th
The modern city of Sunderland, which now lies in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, was part of County Durham before the re-organization of
Hendon, located on the coast, immediately to the south of the borough, was already in use as a port by the later 14th century, although other refer
Silksworth, situated in Bishopwearmouth parish but in the hands of the Priory of Durham, was held by a number of prominent medieval families.
The most prominent secular tenants within the Sunderland area were the Hiltons, who held the castle and lordship of Hylton (See the Hilton Family
The borough was created by charter of Hugh du Puiset, bishop of Durham in c.1180-1183, probably in the hope that it would generate the same degree
Some two hundred years after Boldon Book, the townships of Bishopwearmouth, Tunstall, Ryhope and Burdon, together with the borough of Sunderland, a
Until the 18th century the only communal means of contact between the main Wearmouth settlements was the ferry crossing situated at the most easter
