Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland located at the north side of the mouth of the
River WearThe River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with
BishopwearmouthBishopwearmouth is an area in Sunderland, North East England.Bishopwearmouth was one of the original three settlements on the banks of the river Wear that merged to form modern Sunderland....
and Sunderland, the area now known as the East End. It includes the area around St. Peter's Church and was once the main centre of Wearside shipbuilding and coalmining in the town. It is now host to a campus of the
University of SunderlandThe University of Sunderland is located in Sunderland, north east England. The university has more than 17,500 students, including 7,000-plus international students from some 70 countries....
and the
National Glass CentreThe National Glass Centre is a cultural venue and visitor attraction located in Sunderland, North East England.-Background:The National Glass Centre is located in Monkwearmouth, on the north banks of the River Wear, on the former site of J.L. Thompson and Sons shipyard. The centre is close to the...
. It is served by the three
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
churches of the
Parish of MonkwearmouthThe Parish of Monkwearmouth is a Church of England parish in Monkwearmouth, England, served by the churches of St Peter's, All Saints and St Andrew's.-History:...
.
The locals of the area were called "Barbary Coasters". The borough stretches from
Wearmouth Bridge to the harbour 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 AxeThe Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
, is now the
Monkwearmouth Station MuseumMonkwearmouth Station Museum served Monkwearmouth, Sunderland, England. The railway station was closed in March 1967 as a result of the Beeching Axe and featured a restored booking office dating from the Edwardian period....
and features a restored booking office dating from the Edwardian period. Since 2002 Monkwearmouth has once again been served by rail transport, this time via
St. Peter'sSt Peter's Metro Station on the Tyne and Wear Metro is the nearest one to the University of Sunderland's St Peter's Campus. The station was built for the Sunderland extension in 2002. It is located close to the Wearmouth Bridge and just a short distance south of the old Monkwearmouth Station that...
Tyne and Wear MetroThe Tyne and Wear Metro, also known as the Metro, is a light rail system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. It opened in 1980 and in 2007–2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of nearly...
station a few hundred yards south of the old station.
The area is also the home of the
Stadium of LightThe Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light has the fifth-largest capacity of any English football stadium. The stadium primarily hosts Sunderland A.F.C. matches...
, which was opened on the site of the abandoned Wearmouth Colliery in July 1997, and is the home of the football club
Sunderland A.F.C.Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
, who had previously played at
Roker ParkRoker Park was an English football stadium situated in Roker, Sunderland. The stadium was the home of the English football club Sunderland A.F.C. from 1897 to 1997 before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Near the end of the stadium's history, its capacity was around 22,500 with only a small...
.
Wearmouth Colliery was closed in December 1993, and had been in operation for over 100 years.
Monkwearmouth Secondary School and Specialist Arts College is located in the suburb of Seaburn Dene. Alumni include the politician
Hilary ArmstrongHilary Jane Armstrong, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for North West Durham from 1987 to 2010.-Early life:...
, actress
Melanie HillMelanie Hill is an English actress from Sunderland, County Durham.-Television:Hill replaced Gilly Coman as the character of Aveline in the last two series' of Carla Lane's BBC television sitcom Bread...
, philosopher
Alan Brian CarterAlan Brian Carter is the Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow.He earned a BA at the University of Kent at Canterbury, an MA at the University of Sussex and a DPhil at St Cross College at the University of Oxford.Carter's first academic position was Lecturer in Political...
, Paralympic yachtsman John Robertson, footballer Martin Smith, and local author Keith Wilkinson.
The school hosts the annual Technology Days every June. All the primary schools in the catchment area send their year 6 students to participate in a "robot wars" type challenge. They are mentored by year 8 & 9 students as part of the transition process. The schools involved in the 2009 event were: Seaburn Dene, Fulwell, Redby, Dame Dorothy, Grange Park, Newbottle and Blackfell. A link to view a video can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeHWADjdzLM