In 1844, while levelling the ground in the garden of Crag Hall, the gardener found two cists beneath stone lids. Within them were four food vessels "containing bones and fine earth". Only one food vessel was found complete (BM 1852 10 - 1.2). It is described as bipartite, with central groove and 5 (or 4?) unpierced stops. Illustrated in sources 1, 4, 5, 6, 8. The second (BM 1852 10 - 1.3) is incomplete, tripartite, with two cavetto zones, and lines of circular impressions in the zones and below the rim. (See 3, 7, 8). Both vessels were presented to the BM by Sir Walter Trevelyan Bt. of Wallington. In 1844 Dr Headlam presented to the Society of Antiquaries drawings by John Bell of the complete vessel and one of the broken ones, and actual fragments of - presumably - the other two, found "in his property at Cragg Hall".(2) C.M. Adamson was presumably Headlam's tenant.

"A Roman Figure found at Fulwell, near Sunderland...Dr Clanney accompanied this Donation with the following account: - 'In the month of November, 1820, immediately above the excavation of the Limestone at Carley Hill Quarry, which is situated about a quarter of a mile West of Fulwell Hill, in the parish of Monkwearmouth, and about 200 yards West of Hill House, the residence of Mr. Wake, sen., whilst removing the surplus soil, Thomas Dobson, quarryman, found the Roman Figure which appears to be a Lar. There were found at the same time, several portions of Human Bones..."

"It is worthy of remark that several excavations have been discovered in the solid limestone rock, at Carley Hill, (similar to stone coffins) containing human Bodies". Thus said Dr Clanney when he reported the discovery in November 1820 of a Roman figure and human bones at Carley Hill.

In donating a Roman object to the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries, Dr Clanney reported that, at the same time as its discovery in November 1820, "immediately above the excavation of the Limestone at Carley Hill Quarry,... about 200 yards West of Hill House...whilst removing the surplus soil,... there were found...several portions of Human Bones and a quantity of common rock Limpet Shells imbedded in limestone rubbish and surface soil".

Said to have been sunk in 1824, in 1844 the Team Colliery (in 1898 the Betty Pit) was held under lease from Lord Ravensworth by William Wharton Burdon Esq., of Hartford House, Co. Durham, whose ancestors had had it since 1796 [Durham Mining Museum website says 1726, with an explosion in June 1757 killing 16 miners]. In 1843, as Eighton Moor Colliery, it was shown on a wagonway which went NW past Farnacres Colliery to R. Team, and NNE past Sheriff Hill Colliery to join the Ouston and Pelaw wagonway. Subsequently owned by Perkins and Partners, Birtley Iron Co, Pelaw Mian Collieries Ltd and the NCB from 1947. Subsidiary pits: Street Pit (NZ 2705 5748), illustrated by Hair, joined to the Team Colliery by a wagonway now a road, disused in 1897; and also Meadow Pit (NZ 2616 5820), Flat Pit (NZ 2685 5762), Corn Pit (N of Team Colliery), all disused in 1897, and Nelly Pit (SW of Low Eighton), Chance Pit (very close to Nanny Pit), and Nanny Pit (NZ 2580 5823), disused in 1967. There were others, some on O.S. 1st ed., Bank, Betty, Centre, Corner, Dene, Emidy, George, Green, Hall, Hill, Landsale, Lane, Letch, North, Quarry, Rush, Spring, Wood. Team Colliery closed in 1941, and the site was reclaimed in.

Part of a polished axe (blade end) was found near Washington, and a drawing of it is filed in the Museum of Antiquities. It was then returned to the owner via the Hancock Museum.

The first William of Washington took this surname on his exchange of lands at Hartburn before 1183 with Bishop Puiset. Heirs of the Washington family sold the manor in 1613 to Bishop James for his youngest son. The medieval manor house was largely rebuilt as Washington Old Hall in the early 17th century. The hall came into the hands of 3 owners, and was usually let, notably to John Brack (late 18th century). In 19th century it was divided into tenements, in 1937 condemned and vacated. In the 1930s local historian and schoolmaster Frederick Hill created a preservation society and raised funds from the USA and UK to restore the hall to the layout of a 1667 inventory. Hill died in 1955. The Hall was restored in 1950s and reopened in 1955. In 1957 it was given to the National Trust. Medieval in origin, the central block of the house merely represents the early hall, but the west (kitchen) wing retains medieval arches into the screens passage, a lancet and masonry, of C12 (National Trust) or C13 (Honeyman). The house was largely rebuilt in C17 (various dates have been suggested) to provide a 2-storeyed wing at each end of the hall, attics above, a S stair turret, and perhaps a N entrance porch. Brack made further alterations in 1792, particularly in the E wing. In the 1950s' restoration there was considerable renewal of stonework and insertion of foreign features. George Washington (1732-1799) the first president of the United States of Amercia, was a direct descendant of William Washington. The Washington family coat of arms is widely considered to be the basis of the Stars and Stripes and is certainly the origin of the Washington State flag. Washington Old Hall, the ancestral family home, is a hugely successful tourist attraction particularly with US tourists. Sunderland now enjoys a Friendship Agreement with Washington DC. The Hall is H-shaped in plan. Windows feature stone mullions and metal frames. There are large stone fireplaces. The wood panelling in the Panelled Room was brought from the old Manor House in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. The staircase was brought from the Whire Hart Hotel in Guildford.

There was mention of a church at Washington in a 1112 charter by Bishop Flkamabard of Durham and in the Boldon Buke (1183 survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset), and its C12 font survives (used as a cattle trough in 1965). Margot Johnson offers an ingenious account of the development of the medieval church, based on earlier descriptions and plans. She suggests that, when complete, it consisted of a 4-bay aisled nave, an aisleless chancel, three chantry chapels (Washington; ? De Biddick in the rib-vaulted "vestry" described by Hutchinson), and a west tower. The church was of square plan, not cruciform. In 1832, because it was too small and unsafe (apparently due to instability caused by the vaults below containing the Washington family's remains), the medieval church was demolished and replaced by Holy Trinity church (HER 7044). Dated C12th.

Name derives from 'Wessington'. May mean 'the place where Wassa's people live' or it could refer to 'Wessing' meaning soaking in water, implying marshy land. Ton means settlement or farmstead, but it may be a derivation of 'tor' meaning 'holy hill'. It has been suggested that Holy Trinity Church (HER 353 and 7044) was on a holy hill. Washington appears in an Anglo Saxon charter which states that King Edgar granted it to the monks of Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire, in AD 973. In the 11th century the population of Washington was reduced during the Harrying of the North by William the Conqueror's army. The lands were given to the Bishop of Durham. Washington and its church are referred to in an 1112 charter by Bishop Flambard of Durham. In the Boldon Buke (1183 survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) ) the vill, but not the church or its lands, was held by William de Hertburne (exchanged with Bishop de Puiset for Hartburn near Stockton). He subsequently took the name Wessington (later Washington). William Wessington built a manor house. Temp. Hatfield's Survey Wm of Washington kt. held the manor and vill, in C15 the owners were the Blaykestons, in the 17th century Bishop James, and in 18th century the Bracks. There is no evidence for its size in the medieval period, and in the late 18th century Hutchinson describes it as "inconsiderable and scattered on the skirts of the brook". Roberts and Austin type 2, - regular two-row plan with green. This is not a wholly satisfactory description - the north row is there, but church in a circular churchyard and gardens of hall occupy south side of a space which, in C19, was a "sand hole". At that time the east end was closed off, and a road to the west left the north-south route west of the church. The village expanded in the 20th century with the opening of Washington Glebe Colliery in 1901. Terraced housing was built on Spout Lane. Dated C12th.

"A denarius of Vespasian (69-79 A.D.) found in the garden of 48 Berwick Avenue, Town End Farm...in 1963". Dated C1.