The evidence for a monastery at Gateshead is a single statement by Bede - "Utta...a renowned priest, and abbot of the monastery of Gateshead" in A.D. 653.(1) "Ad Caprae Caput" is translated by Ekwall as a headland or hill frequented by wild goats. Everything else is speculation. a. Date of foundation. 2 suggests the episcopate of either Aidan or Finan. b. Date of abandonment. 2 believes this was when Colman and his followers left Northumberland since if the monastery had existed when Bede was writing (C8) there would have been more information in his history. c. The site. 2 and 3 equate this with the church or chapel in Gateshead where Bishop Walcher was murdered in 1080, and 3 confusingly then gives 2 locations Gateshead House; and "the Field below where Brick-Kilns now are". 7 sees this as lower down the river, in Lawless Close, later called Miller's Field. 4 proposes the site of the later St. Edmund's Hospital. Note that 6 locates Gateshead House near St. Edmund's Chapel, i.e. NZ 2570 6315. Dated C7th.

Date of earliest reference uncertain. Source 1 suggests the 2 Raintons were originally one township, and cites Symeon as suggesting that this had appeared by the end of the C9, and belonged to the church of Durham before the introduction of the monks. Perhaps better to accept a C12 date, based on the reference to "Reynton et aliam Reinton" in John's confirmation of Henry II's charter. Though the mill of Rainton is mentioned in (1), the village in fact belonged to the priory of Durham. Feodarium: 7 free tenants with 1 messuage, 60 acres land and 5 acres meadow each; 1345 - 13 tenants with 18 tofts, 2 cottages etc; 1539, 1580 - 9 tenants. A 1411 survey lists the tenements in the north row, a south row and a west row. Back lanes ran along the rest of the south and east rows of tofts. 19th century plans show a substantial, clearly defined settlement. Though described as "an irregular cluster or agglomeration without a green", there is still a distinctively triangular/wide oblong space in the centre of the village with back lanes on all sides. In April 1747 John Wesley came to preach at Rainton. A Wesleyan chapel was erected in 1823. St Cuthbert's Anglican Church was built in 1866. In the post medieval period several shafts were sunk around East Rainton - Hazard, Dunwell, Pontop and Meadows. In 1824 there were said to be around 600 miners and their families living in East Rainton. There is a local story that an Irish miner gave his name to a row of four houses (Paddy's Row). Paddy lived in No. 1. There were four public houses in the village - the Fox and Hounds, Village Tavern, Rose and Crown and the Blacksmith's Arms. Mr J. Bailey brewed beer in East Rainton and Tom Sutheran bottled mineral water, beer and stout. The communal oven in East Rainton was in what is now the boiler-house of Mr Bailey's Rainton Bridge Farm. Almost every family had their own allotment. The village had one butcher's shop, run by Mr Robson (who ran the shop for over 60 years). He slaughtered three beasts each week. The first school was built in 1822 on the site of the colliery yard of Pontop Pit. The school could accommodate 136 children. The schoolmaster was Robert Lawson, later Mr T Sager. After 1866 the school was taken over by the church. The present school was built in 1933.Six streets of council houses were built in 1928 (Lloyd Avenue, School Road, Handley Crescent, Cowley Crescent) and were modernised in 1956. There were five farms around the village - Rainton Bridge Farm, Dairy Farm, High Farm, Low Farm and Summer House Farm. The church hall was built in 1882. The miner's welfare hall was opened in 1926. The Women's Institute started in 1948. Dated C12th.

"1790 (Feb.) The workmen employed in clearing away the rubbish at the top of the new street, then forming in Gateshead, found a great number of Roman coins, inclosed in an urn. Many of the coins having got into the hands of the workmen, could not be recovered; but several of them, in good preservation, of the Emperor Hadrian, were in the possession of the late David Stephenson, esq., architect. Local Rec.". The new street was Church Street, on its original alignment. If "top" means the uphill end then this was approximately NZ 2540 6360; if the bridge end then NZ 2535 6365. Dated C2.

Though marked on 1st ed. O.S. map as "Holy Well (chalybeate)"(1), no earlier reference from which they could have got this information has yet come to light. "The particularly fine springs of Houghton, in the county of Durham, from which the town receives its distinctive appellation of le-Spring, are all chalybeate. One of them, situated in Newbottle Lane, is still called the Holy Well. This name is said to have been imposed upon it in the year 700, when the Venerable Bede and his attendants passed through Houghton, and regaled themselves with 'the pure beverage of nature' at this particular fountain".(2) Source 3 refers to it as 'Bede's Well', and also cites the Sunderland Times of 15.ii.1878. By 1958 it had disappeared, the OS saying, 'No evidence of well on the ground. The site is a derelict property with much rubble about though the area of the well is clear".(4) Chalybeate: of mineral water or spring. Impregnated with iron salts.

Longstaffe reported the find of a Roman coin, Middleton said "coins", Petch - quoting Middleton - altered it to "Roman objects (?coins)". There is no further information.

"On a spot of ground within Houghton, called Kirkland (parcel of the glebe of the Rectory), are some very irregular traces of works and intrenchments, of which no account has been preserved. A part of the ground has been ploughed, and the principal earthen mound, which encloses an oblong square, has been cut through in several directions, without discovering anything of consequence".(1) The site has subsequently been claimed for almost every period - prehistoric(5), Roman(2), and medieval(3), the last source saying "Site of a supposed Church or Religious House". In 1952 the OS reported that "The field in which this earthwork is situated is now used as a rubbish heap and the whole of the earthwork, except for a small portion at N side, has been covered over. The small portion remaining is at NZ 3476 4987, and is so disfigured as to make an accurate description impossible. Length approx. 21 m, height 0.4 m". An evaluation in 1993 produced no evidence for occupation, but just for dumping. Two test pits were dug in 2011-12 as part of a community archaeology project. The test pits were only 0.27m and 0.40m deep. Only modern finds were recorded. Natural subsoil was not reached.

"Roman coins are reported from excavations at the works of Mr. Henry Bell, contractor, near Ryehope (sic) Bridge".

In 1586 it was recorded that a watermill, called Houghton and Raynton mill in Co. Durham, was "parcel of the possessions of the dissolved hospital of St. James, near Northallerton". There are other references to mills at: Rainton, late C12 (2) Rainton (3) East Rainton, 1464 (3) East Rainton, 1539 (3) East Rainton, 1580 (4) East and West Rainton, 1345 (5) Perhaps it may eventually be possible to locate and define them more precisely.

The free grammar school of Kepier was founded in 1574 by John Heath of Kepyer purchaser in 1568 from the grantees of the Crown of the estates of the dissolved hospital of Kepier, near Durham, and Bernard Gilpin, the famous rector (1558-83). The foundation included the school, and an almshouse or hospital which was not established until later. The school had a celebrated library: of the books surviving in 1907 40 were pre 1600 in date. Sited on the E end of the churchyard, the L-shaped centre survives from 1574, with to the S the master's house, probably of 1724, and to the N 2 18th century bays. There were other repairs in 1779. Now parish rooms and two flats. Limestone and sandstone rubble with some quoins. Concrete tile roof. 2 storeys. Sash windows. 4-panelled double door under oblong fanlight in architrave beneath inscription commemorating the founding in 1574, dated 1724. 5-panelled door in flat Tuscan doorcase. Five brick chimneys. Operated as a grammar school until 1922. The school was extended in the 1980s to provide a community hall to the rear. The school's terms are described by Whelan (1856) as: Board for pupils under 13, 35 guineas per annum; above 13 years if age, 40 guineas; washing, 3 guineas; tution fee, 8 guineas; modern languages with the exception of German, are extra. These are six boys on the foundation, who may be prepated for the universities or any profession, gree of expense, except for extra charges. A foundation scholarship, now vacant, tenable for three years at the University of Oxford, Cambridge or Durham, has recently been founded. The 1856 representatives of the founders were the Dowager Marchioness of Londonderry, and the rector of Houghton-le-Spring. Governors - Earl Vane and Viscount Dungannon; headmaster, the Rev. Gerard Moultrie.

First mention 1483 when John Kelinge began to enclose, fortify and embattle a house above the lower porch within his rectory with a wall of lime and stone, and to make a fortress of it without licence. Bishop Dudley pardoned the offence and granted a licence.(1) Second half of C16. Bernard Gilpin spent 300 pounds. (2, 3) Second half of C17. Rector Davenport demolished the whole building except for tower (described by 2 as round, "an old dovecote formed building", and flanking rectory on W), and built a new rectory, "venerable, embattled", with chapel on E. This formed the centre block and W wing of today. (1-3) Early C19. Rector Thurlow demolished tower and chapel, added E and W wings. (2-3) Does anything remain from the medieval and C16 periods? Source 4 suggests some rooms survived the C17 demolition, and 5 identifies fabric from these phases. What was the nature of the medieval tower? A Parliamentary Survey of 1647 catalogues barns, stables, outhouses, gardens, orchards, a large ornamental garden and a fishpond at the rectory. Bernard Gilpin was rector of the parish 1557-1584. He was known as the 'apostle of the north' and 'friend/father of the poor' due to his generous and philanthropic works. Gilpin founded the Kepier Grammar School (HER 265) and was instrumental in alterations to the church (HER 263). Listed building description - Rectory, now Council Offices. Early C17, altered in C18 (date of 1794 on the rainwater head), C19 and C20. 2 storeys, Tudor style. Flattened Tudor arch to modern door. Windows mostly 3-light stone mullioned, but some sashes with glazing bars. Massive stone chimney stack. East elevation rebuilt c.1950. Crenellated parapet conceals roof. Interior - closed-string well staircase with panelled newel posts and high moulded handrail. Figure of Britannia with the number 33014 underneath on front elevation - this is a fire mark, showing the building was insured against fire damage, for London Assurance. On south wall is the shield of William Sancroft, rector from 1661 to 1664. He became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1677. George Davenport was rector from 1664. Edward South Thurlow was rector from 1789 to his death in 1847. The rectory was bought by Houghton Urban District Council for £10,000 on 30 July 1949. Around 1950 large parts of the rectory were demolished during its conversion to council offices. The eastern first floor of the building houses the wodod panelled council chamber. This features the names of the chairmen from 1937 until 1974 when Houghton Urban District Council ceased to exist and became part of Sunderland Borough Council. In 1968 the Houghton Urban District Council Offices (HER 16200) were built next to the rectory. This building was demolished in 2011. Northern Archaeological Associates Ltd suggest that the earlier medieval structure may still survive within the extant building. The list of rectors dates back to 1131 although the first documentary ref to the building is not until 1343 {11}. A three-storey pele tower was constructed with external stairs by Rector Kelyng, who was responsible for the fortification of the building in the 15th century. The tower was demolished in the late 18th century as part of Thurlow's alterations. The rectory is listed by Thurlow in 1792 as featuring nine rooms on the ground floor and eight on the first floor. The ground floor contained a large hall, butler's room, kitchen, servants' hall, back kitchen, cellar, pantry, study and parlour. All of these rooms had plain ceilings and a mixture of stone and deal floors. The first floor contained a drawing room, dining room, south lodging room, east lodging room, north lodging room, small lodging room and two servants' rooms. These rooms are listed as having plain ceilings and deal floors. Other buildings listed in 1792 include a chapel, a tower, barn, stables and coach house, stables, out houses and gateway {11}. Recorded 2014 by NAA. Dated C15-17th.