United Kingdom · England · Sunderland
Monkwearmouth, Sunderland — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Monkwearmouth is a Sunderland district at the mouth of the River Wear, with St Peter's Church founded there in 674.
About Monkwearmouth
Where to stay in Monkwearmouth
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
The National Glass Centre pulls visitors over. Monkwearmouth lies across the River Wear from Bishopwearmouth and Sunderland, the settlements it once stood beside, and a room on this bank puts St Peter's Church and the University of Sunderland campus within a walk. Choices are limited.
Anyone wanting the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens or Sunderland Minster books nearer the centre and crosses the river for the day.
About Monkwearmouth
What are the main landmarks in Monkwearmouth?
Age separates the two halves. St Peter's Church and the Monkwearmouth Anglo-Saxon monastery and medieval priory hold the older ground, while the National Glass Centre, Sunderland Maritime Heritage, the Fans Museum and Art Arena account for the newer. Churches fill much of the rest.
Sunderland Minster, Holy Trinity Church, St Mary's Church, All Saints' Church and Bethesda Free Church appear among them, along with Burdon House, Tavistock House, the Custom House and The Manor House.
What is the history of Monkwearmouth?
Monkwearmouth begins with the monastery. St Peter's Church was founded in 674 as part of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, and the Anglo-Saxon monastery and medieval priory that grew with it left the site the record still names. Then came ships and coal.
Wearside shipbuilding and coalmining had their main centre here, and a campus of the University of Sunderland with the National Glass Centre took over that ground. The Parish of Monkwearmouth keeps three Church of England churches, and St Benet's Church was the first nineteenth-century Catholic church built in the district.
Where is Monkwearmouth?
Monkwearmouth sits at the river mouth. Sunderland holds the district in Tyne and Wear, and Bishopwearmouth shared the River Wear among the three original settlements.
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Updated September 2026