England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Monkwearmouth St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Monkwearmouth lies in northeastern Durham forming a lengthy stretch of the county's North Sea coastline. Monkwearmouth is located immediately across the River Wear from the industrial town of Sunderland there being merely a half mile between the two. Monkwearmouth sits on the A1018 road which links Sunderland with South Shields. The parish name is a conjoining of a geographical reference, that of its presence at the mouth of the River Wear. with the history of its foundation by monks in c673. The core of the parish sits around the northern end of the initial bridging point across the Wear and consisted of Lower Town, a ramshackle collection of narrow streets of fisherman's cottages, together with Upper Town, within the wider parish were also the discrete villages of Fulwell and Southwick, both of which are now absorbed into the broad metropolitan area that is classified as Metropolitan Sunderland. Today built areas stretch for almost 4 miles inland and for a similar distance along the coast as a large urban area. Whilst the monastery suffered the depredations of the "Vikings" and was eventually removed to Jarrow by Bede, the port of Monkwearmouth developed primarily as a fishing port in its earliest days. Later the excellent location lead to the parish becoming one of the country's major ship building areas, ropes, blocks, chains, masts and anchors being especial trades. In addition the local clays were exploited as one of the major earthenware centres of the country. Deep seams of coal were also exploited by Messrs Pemberton's deep shafts employing many. The port grew largely through trade across the North Sea with Germany, Scandinavia and the Low Countries especial markets whilst the fishing fleet extended their range to encompass the colder waters of the Atlantic especially Newfoundland & Icelandic waters. Modern developments have come to the area, freight rail lines serving the port are supplemented by lines to both Newcastle Upon Tyne and to South Shields as part of the extensive Tyne/Wear transportation network.  Today's Monkwearmouth is a bustling industrial port although much of the heavy industry has since gone to be replaced by lighter forms, a regional shopping location and home to many thousands. As a coastal location drainage is simply to the nearby North Sea either through the Wear, itself, or numerous outfalls. Monkwearmouth is sited at between sea level and 50 metres higher in the northern portions of Southwick in an area that is largely below that height for some distance. Monkwearmouth parish was extensive, like most northern parishes, covering just short of 5,200 acres its population would have risen during the transcription period to around 12,500 parishioners by its end. Like most of northern England Monkwearmouth is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

r
The Church

St Peter's church stands in an island of green space and peace within the bustle of industrial Monkwearmouth, its stands roughly a quarter of a mile east of the bridge and around 200 yards north of the river. Pevsner opens his account with the verdict that St Peter is "one of the historically important Anglo-Saxon churches in the country" setting the scene for its history. It is believed to have been founded at the behest of the Venerable Bede whoc desired a church "according to the manner of the Romans". Extensive excavations of the site spread between 1959 & 1974 have revealed the chronology of the site in quite significant detail allowing us to follow the development of the church, Phase 1, that has been identified, is of a stone church built in c675 consisting of a long narrow nave with a shorter chancel. Above the ground only the nave's western wall survives. By 716 in phase 2 a western porch had been added to complete the earliest version of the church. Phase 3 covered the remainder of the so-called Dark Ages and saw work to extend the chancel not completed until the middle of the 11th century. Phase 4 saw the addition of the rather skinny tower which was completed by the end of the 11th century and which completed the pre-Conquest church. Work followed through the familiar medieval church-building periods, a northern aisle added in the 13th century, the chancel remodelled in the 14th and in the 15th century a tomb to the local Hylton family also added. Extensive restorations in more modern times began early, in the Georgian period, when in 1806 the northern arcade and chancel arch were demolished. A more thorough restoration of the early 1870s rebuilt a new northern aisle and arcade, added a new northern chapel and moved the southern wall of the nave back to its original Saxon position. Finally in 1972 the octagonal chapter house was added. The church stands within the curving course of St Peter's Way with a driveable road to its western end where parking for a few cars may be had, the church stands in extensive parkland allowing uninterrupted views from every conceivable angle leaving the photographer a plethora of choice.