Sunderland
city in Tyne and Wear, North East England / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sunderland is in North East England. It was a county borough, and is now part of the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear. It sits at the mouth of the River Wear.
Quick Facts Population, OS grid reference ...
Sunderland | |
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Coat of arms of Sunderland City Council | |
Population | 277,962 (2016 Office for National Statistics) |
OS grid reference | NZ395575 |
• London | 240 mi (387 km) SSE |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | SUNDERLAND |
Postcode district | SR1, SR2, SR3, SR4, SR5, SR6, SR9 |
Dialling code | 0191 |
Police | Northumbria |
Fire | Tyne and Wear |
Ambulance | North East |
UK Parliament |
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Sunderland started as three small villages:
- Monkwearmouth was created in 674 when Saint Benedict Biscop started a monastery. Monkwearmouth is on the north side of the river.
- Bishopwearmouth was founded in 930. It is on the south side of the river.
- Sunderland, at the mouth of the river was a small fishing village. It was given a charter in 1179. The charter gave the people of the small town some rights which people outside the town did not have.
Sunderland grew as a port, mostly selling coal and salt. In the 1300s people began to build ships along the river bank. By 1835, the port of Sunderland was so important that its name was used when the three old villages became the a borough. Sunderland became a city in 1992.
A person born in Sunderland is sometimes called a Mackem.