Sunderland

Sunderland, city (1991 pop. 195,064) and metropolitan district, NE England, at the mouth of the Wear River. The city was established as a shipbuilding center and a coal-shipping port in the 14th cent; shipbuilding ended in the 1980s, and coal mining in the 1990s. Sunderland exports metals and manufactured goods and imports raw materials. Engineering is an important industry; manufactures include aircraft components, electrical goods, glass, clothes, chemicals, and pottery.

A Benedictine abbey, at which Bede studied, was founded there in 674. It was destroyed by the Danes, and its remains are incorporated in the Church of St. Peter. Educational and cultural facilities include Sunderland Polytechnic College, Sunderland College for teacher training, and several art museums; the National Glass Centre is in a former shipyard. The district includes the seaside resorts of Roker and Seaburn and the new town of Washington.

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Sunderland

Town, seaport, and metropolitan borough (pop., 2001: 280,807), northern England. Located at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, the town was known as Wearmouth in Saxon times; it formerly included Monkwearmouth, site of a monastery built in 674 where the Venerable Bede studied. Sunderland itself (named for the part of Monkwearmouth “sundered” from the monastery by the river) was chartered in the late 12th century. The port grew rapidly as the coal trade developed in the 17th century, and by the mid-18th century it was a major shipbuilding centre. Modern industries include glassware and automobile manufacturing. Within the borough are the seaside resorts of Roker and Seaburn. In addition to the town of Sunderland, the city and metropolitan borough includes the towns of Washington, Houghton-le-Spring, and Hetton-le-Hole.