The medieval borough of Sunderland

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 of commercial success as that enjoyed by Newcastle. However, the  small medieval port failed to live up to its early promise and in the 15th and 16th centuries was little more than a large fishing village. It was only in the closing decades of the 16th century that its fortunes began to be transformed by its emerging coal export trade, initially an offshoot of the locality’s renewed involvement in the salt making industry.