In 1381 the tenants of Boldon paid $17 13s 4d rent for one windmill and one watermill: it is not clear which of these might have been the mill mentioned in Boldon Book (a 1183 survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) . There is no medieval evidence for the location of this windmill. The above grid reference applies to the site of the surviving 18th century windmill situated east of West Boldon. Dated C14th.

In 1381 the tenants of Boldon paid $17 13s 4d rent for one watermill and one windmill: it is not clear which of these might have been the mill mentioned in Boldon Book (a survey of 1183 of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset). There is no medieval evidence for the location of this watermill. The above grid reference applies to the site of Boldon Mill, with pond and race, on the River Don, shown on the OS 1st ed. 6" of 1856. Info from David Carter, South Shields Teachers Centre, that it was powered by gas engine before being finally demolished {8}. Dated C14th.

It had previously been agreed that the church originated in the early C13, and initially consisted of an aisleless nave and chancel (6), with tower/spire (5). Before the mid C13 north and south aisles were added to the nave, this going on (according to 6) while the tower and broach spire were being built, the aisles being taken to the west face of the tower. The nave thus acquired three-bay arcades with octagonal piers. A stone-vaulted south porch also dates from the C13. (5) considers the present chancel may postdate the aisles. The building underwent several 18th century and19th century restorations, and the only original windows to survive are those in the tower, and the west walls of the aisles (with dog tooth). Two 14th century priests' effigies. Peter Ryder suggests that this building may date from the Anglo-Saxon period with reused Roman stonework. Ryder suggests Saxon nave. Fittings: One medieval bell and base and shaft of font perhaps 13th century in date. Part of the churchyard wall was archaeologically recorded before demolition and rebuild in May 2004. The upper part of the wall was found to be modern, but the lower third is of an undated earlier build, still with its original mortar. WWI war memorial inside - http://www.boldonwm.uk/stnic.htm Dated C13th.

The earliest reference to Boldon is 1183 when it formed the model, in Boldon Book (a survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset), for the management of the bishop's estates. Though even in Hatfield's Survey of 1381 there is no clear division into East and West, it seems possible that East Boldon had in fact come into existence in C13, - there is reference to "the new moor of East Boldon" in 1283. It presumably represents a split of the old township into two, an occurrence for which there are parallels elsewhere. A two-row plan with green, it still has a very neat, compact outline, rectangular with a back lane on both sides and round the ends. Dated C13th.

The earliest reference to Boldon is 1183 when it formed the model, in BoldonBook, for the management of the bishop's estates. It was a large settlement, with 22 villeins and by the late C13 at the latest had a parish church. In c. 1380 there were 23 holdings of 10 acres each of demesne, 23 bondage lands consisting of a messuage and 2 bovates, 6 cottagers holding 2 cottages and 50+ acres of land, and 9 cottagers with a cottage but no demesne land. Many of the tenants were in all categories. Though West and East Boldon were not distinguished in these surveys, it seems likely that West Boldon was the original settlement, and that East Boldon was a new village of perhaps the C13 and represents a division of the original township. West Boldon is described as "an irregular cluster without a green". Originally the main road passed W and N of the church on its way E. Dated C12th.

First ref. to Newton near Boldon is c. 1180, when 12 tenants held 360 acres. Though bishop's property in 1380, it later passed into private hands. Still described as a vill in 1495, it was sold as "Newton Garths" in 1604. In 1638 it contained 342 acres; in 1676 a watermill, malt barn and kiln, and the east field house. Late C16 chancery proceedings suggest the water mill may have been Boldon Mill. In 1714 it was said to consist of the Hardings or West Farm (Harden Farm?), Miles Allison's fram, Garths Farm (not on same site as the present Newton Garths Farm, HER 5482), and Clement Robinson's farm, a total of 337 acres. The Newton Garths Farm shown on the 1840 tithe map was to the north-west of the present farm of the same name and was owned by Cuthbert Ellison Esquire. This farm was ruinous by 1855 and the name 'Newton Garths' had been adopted by the neighbouring farm, which seems up until this point to have been un-named. Tentative conclusion: the vill was succeeded by dispersed farms, presumably after enclosure of common fields, in C16 or C17. If it was once a separate township this had ceased to be so by 1st ed. OS, when it had been carved up into Whitburn and perhaps Boldon. Dated C12th.

The first reference to Harton (Heortedun) is 1074-80, when it and the other vills dependent on Jarrow were given by Bishop Walcher to Aldwin and his companions to assist them in the reconstruction of the church of Jarrow. In 1424 gillicorn was due from 21 bondages; there were 10 tenements in 1539 and 1580. The map of 1768 shows Harton as an L-shaped settlement, the N-S part lying along the E side of Sunderland Road, the other between Moor Lane (S) and Marsden Road (N). 6 of the ?10 farms were located in this nucleated but not really 2 row settlement.
The First Edition Ordnance Survey notes 'Site of the Old Village of Harton' further S on Sunderland Road, so it has been a village of some size, though when it shrank is not known. It has been much rebuilt since 1900 and the pattern is largely lost. Dated C11th.

The earliest reference to Westoe (Wivestou) is 1074-80 whem it and the other vills dependent on Jarrow were given by Bishop Walcher to Aldwin and his companions to assist them in the reconstruction of the church of Jarrow. It is thus odd to find it included with the bishop's lands in Boldon Book (a survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset), c. 1183, (Hodgson suggests temporary confiscation), when it was at farm. In 1345-6 there were 41 holdings but only 24 named tenants; the Feodarium records 2 messuages and land held by military service; in 1539 and 1580 there was a total of 12 holdings. Had there been amalgamation?³ Though no early buildings survive, Westoe still retains its "regular two row plan with green". It was clearly a settlement of affluent residents in the 19th century and C20, with some quite grand houses. Pevsner - the atmosphere is now distinctly that of a wealthy Victorian suburb rather than a village, despite the narrow strip of green down the middle and the old trees. The Georgian houses are punctuated by higher, showier red brick ones of the 1870s and 1880s, some of them enlargements of the earlier, more modest properties. Dated C11th.

"A writer in 1826 says: 'On the Lawe Bank facing the sea is a guard-house and battery of four guns..., Soon after the close of the last war (that is, the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo) the guns were removed from this battery to Tynemouth on the opposite side of the river".

A fort was built on the Lawe, South Shields, in 1643, at the command of the Marquis of Newcastle, governor of Newcastle, who sent 300 men and 5 or 6 pieces of ordnance for the purpose. It was 9 feet high, surrounded by a ditch 12 feet wide and 11 feet deep, and garrisoned by 100 Royalist soldiers. After two attempts, the Scots captured the fort on 20 March 1644, and lost it briefly in May. It was lost and won thrice in a day in October, the Scots eventually retaining it. Its precise site is uncertain: it is described as not far from the Roman fort, and close to the beacons. Though it is supposed to have existed into the 19th century it is not shown on maps of 1768 and 1827. The fort was probably a sconce, a small fort with a star-shaped bank surrounded by a ditch. A contemporary description says that the fort was defended by five nine-pounder cannons, 100 soldiers, seventy musketeers and thirty pikemen. It was defended on one side by Tynemouth Castle and on the other by a Dunkirk frigate with ten pieces of ordnance. There is a model of the star fort in Arbeia Roman Fort Museum.