Monkwearmouth, sheepfold

Cookson, citing Mitchell states that "a flock of up to 200 sheep is recalled in the area still called Sheepfolds". The sheepfold probably dates to the medieval period. By the end of the 14th century a substantial amount of land owned by the monastery had been rented out to tenants. The remainder of monastic land was worked by local labour, employed by the monks to grow crops. Buck's map of 1720 shows an irregular shaped field which survives into the 18th century. Sheep may have been corralled together in the enclosure to be washed in the river or transported across the river by the Panns Ferry.