...a polished stone axe-head from Earsdon... was received in 1932 by the forerunner of the Museum of Antiquities in an exchange of material with the Hancock Museum. There is no information about its original discovery. The Museum Records report it to be of quartz dolerite with measurements as follows: length 134 mm, width 62 mm, thickness 34 mm. It is recorded as pitted on both faces, with a facetted edge.

A small polished stone axe-head, with a narrow butt, "was found in 1961 in digging a back garden at 19 Barrington Avenue, Marden, Tynemouth...and remained in private possession. It was 120 mm in length and 57 mm in maximum breadth." Hand examination (by George Jobey) suggested that it was a Langdale product and had been reworked.

In 1967 a sandstone boulder carrying a runic inscription was seen close to the cliff face and just north of a sewer outlet at the Cullercoats end of Tynemouth Long Sands. It was possible to examine it in 1968, and the translated Scandinavian inscription read '(personal name ending in "-rik"?) raised (the) stone(s) good luck Alawin'. It was concluded to be a forgery, both on linguistic grounds, and because the boulder was weathered but the inscription was not, in spite of its lying below the normal high tide mark. The stone subsequently disappeared.

The Northumberland County History records that "Gilbert de Whitley received royal licence on April 9th, 1345, to crenellate his manor house at Whitley. The tower recurs in the list of castles and fortalices drawn up in 1415, but probably soon fell into disuse, as there is no mention of it in the survey of 1538, and no tradition survives as to its site. Gilbert de Whitley was an expert military architect, holding the office in 1356, of master and supervisor of the king's work in the castle of Newcastle". A manor-house is marked in the centre of the south row on the first edition Ordnance Survey map - the tower could have been its predecessor, but other sites are also possible, such as on the north side in the area of the present Whitley House.

A gift of Henry I to Tynemouth Priory, Whitley is listed as one of their possessions at the beginning of the 12th century, and appears in subsequent taxation lists without any indication of size or number of tenants. In c. 1539 there were 5 copyhold tenants, each with a tenement and land, and also a cottage and orchard: these figures were repeated in 1633. On mid-19th century maps it appears as an east-west 2 row village, perhaps with green, with the hall in the centre of the south side, and still very small. Today the site lies around the major cross-roads of Park View - Whitley Road east-west, Park Avenue - Marden Road north-south. York St marks the back lane on the north side. There are a few remnants of stone partition walls, farm buildings and perhaps 17th century or earlier dwellings on the north side, but most buildings are 20th century brick. Whitley House, latterly a social club and part of the New Coliseum cinema, is a brick and ashlar building of 1803 with remnants of earlier buildings incorporated to the rear. Number 270 Whitley Road is an ashlar-fronted house of 18th or early 19th century date on the north side of the village street.

There was a coalmine somewhere at Heworth at least as early as the 14th century; notably there are records of expenses in 1377- 8, viz. sharpening picks, binding buckets, the purchase of a cord and a barrel, the payment of colliers' wages and for drawing water there. The coalmine account rolls of 1433-4 record the payment of 20s for making a shaft in Heworth field for the winning of coal.

There are references to medieval stone quarries on Heworth Moor and at Over Heworth. In 1359-60 two men were given separate plots on the moor to quarry, one with 5 men and the other with 3. In 1371 Chilsid quarry is specifically named. In 1378 3 men took the quarry at the end of Upper Heworth for a year, to work it by 2 men with 2 picks. In 1580 Edward Thomson leased a stone quarry at Over Heworth and Ric. Bell and associates took a new quarry. There are also references to payment for the carriage of stone, including millstones, across Heworth land to the Tyne.

Four references have been found to the digging of clay in Over Heworth in the 14th century. In 1357-8 John Oteson, potter, was assigned a rod of clay for 20s 6d, but the court proceeded against 3 others for taking the same without licence. In 1379 the convent's terrar took clay worth 13s 4d for tenements, i.e. presumably for building operations, and for 20s John Buron and Adam Potter of Gateshead were licensed to dig clay for a year with 2 men. The precise location of this activity is unknown.

The bishop of Durham possessed for a time the forests of Gateshead and Heworth, and in order to enjoy the hunting he had "a dwelling house" or "a small manor house" conveniently near at hand, in Gateshead. Its location is unknown.

Attached to the episcopal estate of Gateshead was Bishop Puiset's favourite 'chase' of Heworth. It had the added advantage of being well-wooded, and hence of great economic value (being assessed by the forester at 1,000 marks) since timber could easily be extracted and moved by rafts on the Tyne. As it was uncomfortably close to the prior and convent's demesne of Heworth there were disputes of ownership, finally resolved in 1195 when Puiset confirmed to the convent his whole wood of Heworth. The prior received a grant of free warren in his park at Heworth from Bishop Farnham in 1248. The location and size of this tract of land are unknown.