Preston village (manor)

Preston (Preostun) is first mentioned in 1074-80 when it and the other vills dependent on Jarrow were given by Bishop Walcher to Aldwin and his companions. It subsequently became the property of the prior and convent of Durham, and was leased before 1186 to Hugh de Morewyc. From at least as early as 1260 it was coupled with Symondsett (Simonside), and it came to be described as a manor, the latest reference being 1442. The name eventually disappeared, and it is assumed that it was subsumed into Simonside. John Hodgson in the early 19th century wrote: "Preston...was situated on the east side of the Don, as that stream passes by the grounds of Hedworth and Monkton...There are grass-grown irregularities on the surface of the ground in the fields adjoining the right bank of the Don, nearly opposite to Jarrow, which seem plainly to point out the site of the tofts and crofts of this old and forgotten village".