An L-shaped building, the hall was adapted from or constructed out of the medieval east and south ranges of the priory. It passed from the Whiteheads and Widdringtons to the Williamsons, Sir Hedworth living there for a time, and after 1735 it became the parson's house. Burnt down on 12 April 1790. Though it presumably could have dated from the C16, Surtees suggested it had been built temp. James I. He went on thus: "It formed three sides of a square with the church. The kitchens, which fronted to the East, and closely adjoined the church, were lofty and spacious, with large square windows, divided by stone mullions and transoms: these had very probably formed part of the Monastic offices. A large dining room was panneled (sic) with dark oak, on which were painted landscapes and hunting-pieces; the staircase also was of dark oak. Several of the out-offices were probably reared out of the remains of the Monastic buildings".

Of the Saxon church there remains the west porch, and the west wall of the nave, 18.5 feet wide internally. Hutchinson described the nave as "remarkably narrow in proportion to its length", and declared it to be 5 paces wide, 22 paces long. It has been suggested that: 1. The chancel arch was renewed/resited in C11 by Aldwin. 2. A north aisle of 3 bays was added in the C13. 3. There was quite a lot of building in the C14, of which there survives the north door (its position was altered in ?1874), and in the chancel parts of the walls, the piscina, 5-light east window, and perhaps the 2-light south windows. Because of the substantial alterations in the early19th century and in 1875- 6, little of the medieval fabric remains. An MA student from Durham University carried out a geophysical survey in the church grounds in September 2003, which identified presumed Saxon monastery buildings (see HER 87). Formerly separate churches of St Peter and St Mary. Monastic church, now parish church. 674-5 first church – west wall and 2-storey gabled west porch which is now the lower stages of the tower, for Benedict Biscop the founder, survive. Upper stages of the tower before 1000. Rest of church by end of C14. Nave and chancel altered in C19. Chancel arch removed early C19. North aisle rebuilt and east window reproduced 1875-6 by Austin and Johnson. Interior roof rebuilt ?1985 after a fire. Rubble with quoins and C19 ashlar dressings. Renewed Lakeland slate roof.
Interior – porch barrel-vaulted. West wall shows series of alterations including low wide arch. Chancel floor has ochre and terracotta coloured tiles showing motif of figures at west door jambs, other medieval motifs and inlaid bands of marble. Exhibition panels and cases of finds from excavations in north transept. Glass – two lights by Kempe, others by LC Evetts. Organ chamber has blocked arch to become meeting room. Roman altar in N aisle. Important collection of 7th century to 9th century carved stones, some in church, other in museums. A petrological analysis of the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman undertaken in 2014 confirmed that the Roman fort of Arbeia supplied good quality building stone for the Monkwearmouth-Jarrow monasteries. Specialised Roman ashlar was used in the construction of the 7th century church at Wearmouth and later, general squared building stone was used for the 11th century tower. Dated C11th.

In c. 1075 Aldwin prior of Winchcombe founded a religious house on the site of the ruined monastery of St. Peter. It is said that the site had been cleared and the church rebuilt before, in 1083, he, his companions and the monks of Jarrow went to staff the new priory at Durham. From then until its suppression in 1536 Wearmouth was a dependent cell of Durham and rarely housed more than 2 monks. There are documentary references to church, master's chamber, hall, kitchen, pantry, larder, bakehouse, brewhouse, malt kiln, grange, granary, stable, byre, court (farm yard), an aqueduct and a mill dam. The excavation revealed a square cloister enclosed by 3 walls, probably the cloister sides of the 3 ranges, and perhaps the wall of the west cloister walk. The east and south ranges seem to have been adapted for domestic use, i.e. they became part of Monkwearmouth Hall after the Dissolution. Dated C11-16th.

Excavation south of the church revealed an extensive burial ground (300 + burials) of three phases. 1. Earlier than or contemporary with the Saxon monastic buildings. West of Building B (which runs N-S roughly in the centre of the cloister). A lay cemetery with women and children. Bodies lay on their backs, some in wooden coffins. 2. Later than the abandonment and partial destruction of the monastery. Burials were more widely dispersed than 1, some were over the earlier graves, some were among the monastic buildings. Bodies were usually on their right sides. 3. Two burials appeared to postdate the later Saxon reconstruction of the site, but to be earlier than the full post-Conquest occupation. Dated C7-11th.

In Bishop Hatfield's Survey of c. 1381 John Hobson held, among other things, the windmill of Wearmouth. Because a) Monkwearmouth belonged to the priory of Durham, and not the bishop b) The inhabitants of Monkwearmouth ground their corn at Southwick mill c) Hynden (Hendon) is also listed under Wearmouth in the Survey this mill was presumably somewhere in the parish of Bishopwearmouth, south of the River Wear. Dated C14th.

The rectory was sited at the north end of Bishopwearmouth, on the north side of High Street West, in extensive gardens. Drawings by Grimm show a rambling L-shaped building with windows ranging in date from medieval to C17/18. This would support the view of later writers that the early rectory was extensively rebuilt in the late C17 or later in Queen Anne style, after it had suffered war damage in 1642. It was finally demolished in 1856. In the same grounds were the tithe barn (SMR 40), plus coach-house and harness- room, the two latter surviving into the C20. Part of the archway which had originally led to the stables is said to be the fragment re- erected at Building Hill.

Bede recorded that "the art of glass-making was taught to the English by the foreigners brought from Gaul by Benedict Biscop to glaze the windows of the great abbey he was building at Wearmouth".(1) "These artisans also taught the art of making glass lamps and vessels for liturgical use".(2) By the C8 the craft of glass-making had declined since, in 764, Abbot Cuthbert of Jarrow had to send to Mainz for a man to make vessels of glass. The actual site of manufacture at this period is unknown, and the O.S. have perhaps used rather too grand a term when calling it a "glass works". Excavations at the Saxon monastic site produced glass residues and furnace-lining fragments. There was no trace of a furnace {3}. Dated C7-8th.

Medieval amphisboena. Described by (7) thus: "The creature...has a dragon-shaped body which tapers. It is winged, and has a large and well developed head and well defined teeth. A smaller head at the end of its tail is biting what appears to be a staff or shaft of a spear. It is apparent that the stone is only part of a larger piece of sculpture. It is about 20 inches by 18, and is of local sandstone".

Roman stone in the north wall of the west porch of the church, inside. (1) obviously thought this and 414 were Anglo-Saxon, and it also appears from his account that one (which?) has been built into the porch since he was writing. "...one of the rubble stones forming part of the north wall of the porch; being a piece of sandstone masonry measuring 12 inches by 6 inches, placed about one foot above the ground...The ornament upon it is of crude interlaced work, apparently hacked out with a pick. A stone with similar crude decoration...may be seen in the vestry of the church...".

Roman stone in the north wall of the west porch of the church, outside. (1) obviously thought this and 415 were Anglo-Saxon, and it also appears from his account that one (which ?) has been built into the porch since he wrote. "...one of the rubble stones forming part of the north wall of the porch; being a piece of sandstone masonry measuring 12 inches by 6 inches, placed about one foot above the ground...The ornament upon it is of crude interlaced work, apparently hacked out with a pick. A stone with similar crude decoration...may be seen in the vestry of the church...".