A 1930s building constructed for F.W. Woolworth on the site of the former Queen’s Hotel. The Queen’s Hotel opened in 1857 with an early 20th-century arcade and shops. By the 1920s Woolworths occupied the two shops and subsequently redeveloped the plot to construct a retail store. The new retail store was constructed in an Art Deco style with a steel frame and faience cladding. The building was later occupied by Primark.

Archaeological evidence of a Late Neolithic to Bronze Age settlement was identified during an 11 trench evaluation and further explored during a subsequent targeted excavation conducted in 2017. Features such as hearths, pits and postholes were identified. Late Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery, animal bone and pot boilers, including some that were made from quern stones were found in association with these features [1].
Earliest evidence of occupation was obtained from fragments of oak stem wood obtained from excavated postholes (c. 1.14m x 0.45m x 0.1m deep). These were radiocarbon dated to 5840-5720 cal BC and 4330-4060 cal BC, the late Mesolithic. A small pit (0.6m x 0.5m x o.3m deep) also contained a fragment of oak stem wood which produced a radiocarbon date of 3940-3700 cal BC, the Early Neolithic. Further Early Neolithic dates were obtained from post holes and pits which ranged from 3710-3540 cal BC to 3510-3140 cal BC. Middle Neolithic dates were also obtained from radiocarbon dating oak sapwood and alder charcoal obtained from pits excavated in area 5 (3370-3100 cal BC and 3350-3090 cal BC). Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age dates ranging from 3350-2800 cal BC to 2580-2470 cal BC) were obtained from a range of pits and stakeholes, one of which contained pottery. A single Late Bronze Age date (1200-1000 cal BC) was obtained through radiocarbon dating holly charcoal obtained from a small pit or posthole (0.47m x 0.22m x 0.12m deep). Pre-Iron Age features were dated through paleoenvironmental assessment, these included pits, post holes and gullies. An early Iron Age pit was excavated, this contained a charred hazel nutshell which was radiocarbon dated to 780-530 cal BC. A range of post-medieval features were recorded across the site, these included pits, post pits, linear ditches, boundary ditches, hedge line, remains of a mineshaft and plough furrows. A total of 73 sherds of prehistoric pottery and 9 sherds of fired clay weighing 526g were recovered. Pottery sherds included Fengate Ware (3350-2800 cal BC), All Over Corded (AOC, 2460-220 cal BC) Beaker vessels and food vessels/urns. Small fragments of animal bone were also recovered and a piece of flint from the pit/hearth was found alongside a large saddle quern. Two further small saddle quern fragments were recovered from a pit dating between (2290-2050 cal BC). A single sherd of marble-glazed coarse ware, clay pipe stem and glass were also recorded. Charcoal and charred plant macrofossils recovered from environmental samples were examined. Charred remains of hazelnuts, apples, sloes, haws and blackberries were identified. There was evidence of mixed oak woodland and understorey of hazel, hawthorn, apple, blackthorn and bramble. Alder appears to have become prominent on the site during the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age transition. The environmental samples demonstrated a lack of evidence for cereal cultivation or the processing of grains. The quern stones recovered had poor grinding properties [2].

Blocks F, J, L and M at the Killingsworth Site. Blocks F and J were built in 1966 as workshops for welding and test rig as part of the Engineering Research Station (Grade II* listed). John Gordon Ryder and Peter Yates are likely to have designed the structures. These blocks were redeveloped into vehicle maintenance workshops. After 1985, Blocks L and M were added, these were possibly used for storage or as small workshops. Block F divided into two sections, two storey offices and a vehicle maintenance workshop hall. Interconnected with Block J by a modern infill structure. North facing elevation is clad in vertical rib metal cladding. Flat roof. Two vehicle shutter gates, three doorways, fanlight located above one of the doorways. East elevation is clad in vertically ribbed cladding, two storeys, two windows each level, three of which are contemporary with the structure, fourth window located on the ground floor has been replaced with modern window panels. South elevation has two doorways with blocked fanlight. Interior, concrete flooring with castellated trusses. Building J divided into two sections, the original structure and modern infill building. Original building is clad in grey vertically ribbed metal, roller shutters, doorway and five panels of windows. The newer structure has dark green metal cladding with two vehicle opening roller shutters. Block L a small shed with two rooms constructed from engineering brick with a flat roof. Two blue timber double doorways. Storage area and small workshop area. Block M has a gable roof constructed from engineering brick and vertically ribbed metal cladding. North elevation a large double door gate and low ramp. Small hatch located in west elevation. Single room used for storage. Only structure with a low gable roof. Floor covered in square concrete tiles.

The present Athenaeum Building was constructed on the site of the Athenaeum (1839-1841) which was built for Sunderland’s Literary and Philosophical Society. The building had a museum, library, reading rooms and meeting rooms. The Athenaeum was designed by William Billington of Wakefield and built by Thomas Pratt in a neo-classical Greek Revival style costing over £4500. The building included a portico with Ionic columns and a pediment or elaborate gable. In 1846 the building was acquired by the Sunderland Corporation making Sunderland the first local authority to finance a museum. When the Literary and Philosophical Society ended, the building continued to be used for public meetings and lectures, it was also used as a place of worship for the Wesleyan Reformers and Mormons. In 1873 the structure was used for the Sunderland Liberal Club who decided to rebuild the structure as a commercial premise at the end of the 19th century. The new build included five ground floor commercial properties and two storeys of accommodation. In 2018 Historic England’s Historic Places Investigation team created a report about the Athenaeum as part of the Heritage Action Zone project. The report identifies that several features from the earlier Athenaeum survive in the new build. The report suggests that the original Athenaeum structure may have formed the ground floor basis for the first floor of the new structure and that building material was reused in the redesign. The Athenaeum buildings are now owned by Sunderland City Council.

Middle Hedgefield farm is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map {1} as a collection of buildings lining the south side of the road east of Ryton, between High Hedgefield and Hedgefield House. It comprises a central square building, presumably the farmhouse, with linear ranges to the east and west, and smaller buildings to the south. Subsequent maps show additional buildings to the west and south of the farmstead. The buildings fronting the street are built of roughly coursed stone with dressed stone quoins and slate roofs. In the western range the windows are square with stone lintels and cills. Several openings at the western end of the street frontage have been blocked. A stone plaque on the east end of the frontage of the main building probably reads 'Middle Hedgefield AD 1846'. The eastern range has only small openings for ventilation and no windows on the street frontage, but has a first floor level window on the west gable overlooking the entrance to the farmyard.
Modern aerial photographs show that the central square building is in fact composed of the eastern end of the main E-W range, which forms the northern half, and a separate E-W aligned building forming the southern half, with a gap between them visible on the east gable end and bridged not far below the roof lien, which joins the two buildings. The depth of the gap is not clear but if it exists at the west end it is certainly much narrower.

99-100 High Street West, Walker’s building, constructed in 1926 in a Baroque style and clad in glazed tiles.

A sandstone wall from a demolished dairy building and building rubble were recorded during archaeological monitoring during geotechnical test pitting. No artefacts were recovered from the site.

Postholes and pits excavated in a strip, map and record. The postholes are suggested to have been created to support a temporary prehistoric wooden structure. Postholes were <0.33m in diameter and between 0.05-0.2m deep. Some of the postholes were intercutting. The pits measured between 0.4m to 1.4m x 0.45m to 1.2m with a depth between 0.08m to 0.15m. Paleoenvironmental analysis of samples provide evidence of domestic waste including plant remains, charred plant debris and charcoal. The report recommends that charred material is radiocarbon dated to inform the sequence of the site. Previous radiocarbon dating conducted on material obtained from the site provided a late Neolithic date.

Middle Docks Office at Hill Street was recorded via a level 3 historic building survey prior to the demolition and redevelopment of the site. The four-storey offices were of Hennebique Principle concrete construction. The building is rectangular in plan with a rounded corner at the north east extent of the building. There were six windows and a central doorway on the Hill Street elevation. Above the doorway there was a painted cast of the company crest. The southern elevation was rendered and marked with an ashlar pattern and painted white/cream. It was constructed in c.1907, at the time of the construction of No. 3 Dock, and was used from 1909. The building was then subsequently modified, and dormer windows were added to the roof extension. In the 1950s Hill Street was widened and front steps were added at the entrance of the building and car parking. Due to the closure of the docks in the late 1980s the building was left disused. At the time of the survey, the building is reported to be in a poor state of preservation and is noted to have been subject to vandalism and arson. Interior access was restricted due to the building being considered unsafe due to partially collapsed masonry and rubble trip hazards.

This site was identified during trial trenching in 2018 {1}. It consists of three ditches identified in a single trial trench (54). No finds were recovered, but the charred plant macrofossil assemblages from environmental samples indicate a late prehistoric / Romano-British date.