Monkwearmouth is an area of
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
,
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcas ...
in
North East England
North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary author ...
. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the
River Wear
The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through ...
. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with
Bishopwearmouth and Sunderland, the area now known as the East End. It includes the area around
St. Peter's Church, founded in 674 as part of
Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, and was once the main centre of
Wearside shipbuilding and coalmining in the town. It is now host to a
campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-li ...
of the
University of Sunderland
, mottoeng = Sweetly absorbing knowledge
, established = 1901 - Sunderland Technical College1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic1992 - University of Sunderland (gained university status)
, staff =
, chancellor = Emel ...
and the
National Glass Centre
The National Glass Centre is a cultural venue and visitor attraction located in Sunderland, North East England. It is part of the University of Sunderland.
Background
The National Glass Centre is located in Sunderland, on the north banks of th ...
. It is served by the three
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
churches of the
Parish of Monkwearmouth. The first nineteenth-century Catholic church built in Monkwearmouth was
St Benet's Church which remains active today.
Monkwearmouth is across the river from the
Port of Sunderland at
Sunderland Docks.
The locals of the area were called "Barbary Coasters".
The borough stretches from
Wearmouth Bridge to the
harbour
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...
mouth on the north side of the river and is one of the oldest parts of Sunderland.
The former railway station, closed in 1968 by the
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
, is now the
Monkwearmouth Station Museum and features a restored booking office dating from the
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
period. Since 2002, Monkwearmouth has once again been served by rail transport, this time via
St Peter's Tyne and Wear Metro station a few hundred metres south of the old station.
Wearmouth Colliery
Monkwearmouth Colliery (or Wearmouth Colliery) was a major North Sea coal mine located on the north bank of the River Wear, located in Sunderland. It was the largest mine in Sunderland and one of the most important in County Durham in northeast ...
, a
coal mine
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
, was closed in December 1993 after it had been in operation for over 100 years.
The site is now the home of the
Stadium of Light, which opened in July 1997 and is the home of the football club
Sunderland A.F.C., who had previously played at
Roker Park.
Monkwearmouth was part of the
Sunderland North
Sunderland North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 2010. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
History
Sun ...
parliamentary constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
for elections to the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 ...
. Monkwearmouth is now part of
Sunderland Central.
References
{{T&W places
City of Sunderland suburbs
Sunderland
Tyne and Wear
City of Sunderland