Flatworth mill was an integral part of Flatworth manor, and all the townships in Tynemouthshire, except Tynemouth itself and its later offshoots of North Shields and Cullercoats, did suit to this mill. "The townships of East Chirton, Preston, Whitley, Monkseaton, Backworth and Elswick were chargeable for the timber of Flatworth mill, and, together with Middle Chirton and Dissington, paid a yearly rent to it (miln-silver)". In 1377 there is reference to the mill-pond showing that, in the Middle Ages at least, this was a watermill, and there is certainly a pond, presumably a leat from Coble Dean, shown on the 1st ed. map (above grid ref.). This map, however, also shows a circular building which can only be a windmill, and the PTA possesses a photo of this, so at some point there must have been a change of prime mover - could there also have been a change of site? Dated C14th.

In 1158 Henry II ordered the lord of Hadston to donate Flatworth to Tynemouth Priory. In 1292 Flatworth was listed as one of the 10 manors of the priory, and - though no original document is cited by the NCH in support of this - "a manorial hall, grange and mill" were declared to form "the nucleus of Flatworth demesne". Flatworth was never a village, and lay in the township of Chirton. Between 1377/1538 the land of West Chirton was annexed to Flatworth which, in 1655, contained 466 acres of pasture and 404 acres of meadow and arable land. After the Dissolution "the Grange of Flatworth" was leased to Sir Thomas Hilton for 10; in 1756 the demesnes were divided up into 9 farms. NCH assumes the site of the manor was that of the mill, and that the mill extant in 1907 (1st grid ref) was the medieval one, S of Howdon Rd, E of Coble Dean (Rd), under the railway lines N of Albert Edward Dock, now all being redeveloped by TWUDC. Wrathmell, however, equates it with Low Flatworth (2nd grid ref) and cites an Alnwick MS in support. Dated C12th.

The NCH suggests the priors of Tynemouth worked or let out coal pits in the Preston area, but the earliest published document is the account of Robert Arderne, the Queen's collector in Tynemouthshire, for 20 Eliz. (1577-78), which records the receipt of 66s 8d of new rents of the pit or pits and mines of coal acquired, opened, dug or won in the territory of Preston. The pits had been let to John Robinson for 21 years by letters patent dated 19 May 26 Eliz. The dates seem irreconcilable - is this Gibson's muddle? In 1590 the Preston pits were being worked by Peter Delaval, a London merchant, and later by his successors, and on and off in the C17. The coal was of poor quality, "suited only for salt and lime making". A possible location of the Preston pits is the east side of the township.

The township of Preston lay north and south of the village, but mostly west of a north-south line through the village itself. It is now almost entirely built over, or used for Tynemouth cemetery, playing fields etc. Ridge and furrow, however, is known to have existed, either on APs or, until very recently, as actual earthworks, in 2 fields west of Preston North Road and on both sides of Beach Road. These were part of Mrs. Fielding's holding in 1757, part of Preston Farm in 1842. The two fields were divided by 2 fences/hedges of different periods and slightly different alignments. They appear to cut a single block of ridge and furrow (19+ furrows), which tended to run roughly north-south but curving slightly west at the north end. The width of the ridges varied from 6 to 7.5 m; a few appeared to be double-crested, thus producing some of only half the width. Several blocks of medieval or post medieval ridge and furrow were seen as earthworks on vertical air photographs from the 1940s. Most of the blocks have since been built over. There are two blocks of extant ridge and furrow and several blocks which can be seen as soil marks on Tynemouth golf course. The majority of the ridge and furrow is wide and 's' shaped in appearance, so is likely to be medieval in date.

In an assessment-roll of 1292 Preston is included as one of the ten manors belonging to Tynemouth Priory. "Though Preston, Monkseaton, Backworth and Flatworth do not appear in the record of 1264, corroborative evidence of their manorial character is found in their possessing halls, while Flatworth, Backworth and Monkseaton had separate demesnes...". At Preston the demesne' whether separate or in strips, seems to have been gradually assigned to the tenants until "The demesne farm was abandoned; the garth of the manor-house at the east end of the village was leased to the tenants, and its origin was so completely forgotten that it came to be a disputed point whether the hall- garth lay in Tynemouth or in Preston township". This amount of information does not enable one either to locate the manor, or to describe it - did it have a separate set of farm buildings for instance? Further documentary research is needed. Dated C13th.

"Preston...was confirmed by Henry I to the prior and convent of Tynemouth not later than 1116...". In 1294 the bondage land was divided into 7.5 holdings, and there were also 5 freeholders and 9 cottagers. The hallgarth lay at the east end of the village, but its precise site had been forgotten by the C16. The common fields were not enclosed until 1649. The OS 1st ed. shows an east-west 2-row village, perhaps once with a green, lying across the junction of 2 roads coming from the south, - to the east Preston Road (later made into a bypass on the east side of the old village), and to the west Hawkeys Lane/Walton Avenue/North Road, which originally continued north towards Earsdon as Preston North Road. There were probably still farms in Front Street in the mid C19. Dated C12th.

APs inspected by Neil Holbrook and Stephen Speak showed the cropmarks of a site at the above grid reference, just south of the Seatonburn wagonway. From the 1981 photo Speak describes the site thus: "Rectilinear enclosure with small central circle, larger circle to south-east. Larger trapezoidal enclosure to west, containing two circles and inturned entrance. Crop marks very clear, but no sign of 1974 dark curving streak", (west of trapezoidal enclosure).

In 1348 licence was granted to assign property in Estmoreton etc. to Tynemouth Priory, and in 1353 there was a similar licence for property in Westmorton. There is another reference to East Morton in 1380. It is not known which is represented by the existing hamlet of Murton, and hence where the missing one might be, or when it disappeared. It has been suggested that there are possible earthworks north-east of Murton Steads Farm, c. NZ 335 712, 337 711. Dated C14th.

The earliest reference is in a list of townships of which Tynemouth Priory received confirmation in 1189. Five tenants contributed to the 1296 lay subsidy. In the mid C14 there are references to "Estmoreton" and "Westmorton", but it is not known which is the surviving village. In 1539 there were 4 copyhold tenants each with a tenement, 42 acres of arable, 8 of meadow, and rights of common on Shire Moor, enclosed in 1790. Cuthbertson's Plan of Tynemouth Manor 1720 depicts two buildings labelled as Murton H?. On the 1st ed. OS Murton was a 2-row hamlet with green, and at least 2 farms still on the main street. Today it largely consists of modern houses. A watching brief in 2013 revealed a post-medieval culvert in the fields to the north of the present village but nothing relating to the medieval settlement. Dated C12th.

In an assessment-roll of 1292 Backworth is included as one of the ten manors belonging to Tynemouth Priory. "Though Preston, Monkseaton, Backworth and Flatworth do not appear in the record of 1264, corroborative evidence of their manorial character is found in their possessing halls, while Flatworth, Backworth and Monkseaton had separate demesnes...". This amount of information does not enable one either to locate the manor, or to describe it - did it have a separate set of farm buildings for instance ? Is the location/existence of Backworth Hall indicative of anything ? Further documentary research is needed. Dated C13th.