The earliest reference to a settlement at Bermeston is 1323, when it was held by Robert lord of Hylton. In a Hylton i.p.m. of 1448 the manor consisted of the site of the mansion worth nothing, 27 messuages each worth 12d rent, 2 husbandlands of 20 acres each, 24 oxgangs each of 10 acres, each acre worth 6d rent, 10 score and 2.5 acres of arable land, each acre worth 4d, 16 acres meadow each worth 12d, 2 acres pasture, 2d each, a park of 90 acres, worth 4d each, 2 water mills, worth nothing because totally waste, and 21s 1d rent. All held by half a knight's fee, fealty and suit of court. The estate was sold in 1669, and passed after 1700 to the Vane Tempest family whose rep, the Marquess of Londonderry, still held it in 1840. No clue exists to the site of the village except perhaps the hall (3), now impossible to locate. Between 1840 and Washington New Town the township just contained the 3 farms of High, Middle and Low Barmston. Dated C14th.

Since it is not clear in Boldon Buke (1183 survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) which of the Biddicks, North or South, is meant, the first certain reference to North Biddick is in Hatfield's Survey, where it is described as a vill held by William de Hilton by one- sixth part of a knight's fee and 53s 4d p.a. By C15 the "manor of Bydick near Washington" belonged to the Hilton family of Hilton Castle, and remained with them into ?18th century. The above grid reference is to "North Biddick Hall" as shown on the O.S. map of 1967. But note that on the 1st edition this is called "Biddick Hall", and "North Biddick" is applied to the settlement on the bank of the R. Wear beside Worm Hill. Roberts and Austin accept North Biddick Hall as the original site, put it in class X, indicating "the presence of a single farm or hall on or near the site of a deserted village...", and consider it to be deserted. Dated C14th.

The earliest reference is in Boldon Buke, c. 1183 (a survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset), when it was held by William for 10s., carting wine with 8 oxen, and going in the great chase with 2 greyhounds. Temp. Hatfield's Survey Alice de Moderby held the vill for 10s and foreign service. FRom the C15 the estate was held by the family of Lawson, and in 1844 it belonged (379a. 3r. 15p.) to Sir W. Lawson Bt., and was let to a single tenant. Though a separate township, it never seems to emerge as a proper settlement, and in 1857 it consisted of the "Old Hall", two possible farms, a sandstone quarry and a spa well. Today its position is marked by Manor House Farm, an 18th century-19 double pile house and barn, in Manor Road, Concord. Roberts and Austin do not give it a form, and suggest it was deserted, but did it ever really exist? Dated C12th.

In 1844, while levelling the ground in the garden of Crag Hall, the gardener found two cists beneath stone lids. Within them were four food vessels "containing bones and fine earth". Only one food vessel was found complete (BM 1852 10 - 1.2). It is described as bipartite, with central groove and 5 (or 4?) unpierced stops. Illustrated in sources 1, 4, 5, 6, 8. The second (BM 1852 10 - 1.3) is incomplete, tripartite, with two cavetto zones, and lines of circular impressions in the zones and below the rim. (See 3, 7, 8). Both vessels were presented to the BM by Sir Walter Trevelyan Bt. of Wallington. In 1844 Dr Headlam presented to the Society of Antiquaries drawings by John Bell of the complete vessel and one of the broken ones, and actual fragments of - presumably - the other two, found "in his property at Cragg Hall".(2) C.M. Adamson was presumably Headlam's tenant.

"A Roman Figure found at Fulwell, near Sunderland...Dr Clanney accompanied this Donation with the following account: - 'In the month of November, 1820, immediately above the excavation of the Limestone at Carley Hill Quarry, which is situated about a quarter of a mile West of Fulwell Hill, in the parish of Monkwearmouth, and about 200 yards West of Hill House, the residence of Mr. Wake, sen., whilst removing the surplus soil, Thomas Dobson, quarryman, found the Roman Figure which appears to be a Lar. There were found at the same time, several portions of Human Bones..."

"It is worthy of remark that several excavations have been discovered in the solid limestone rock, at Carley Hill, (similar to stone coffins) containing human Bodies". Thus said Dr Clanney when he reported the discovery in November 1820 of a Roman figure and human bones at Carley Hill.

In donating a Roman object to the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries, Dr Clanney reported that, at the same time as its discovery in November 1820, "immediately above the excavation of the Limestone at Carley Hill Quarry,... about 200 yards West of Hill House...whilst removing the surplus soil,... there were found...several portions of Human Bones and a quantity of common rock Limpet Shells imbedded in limestone rubbish and surface soil".

Said to have been sunk in 1824, in 1844 the Team Colliery (in 1898 the Betty Pit) was held under lease from Lord Ravensworth by William Wharton Burdon Esq., of Hartford House, Co. Durham, whose ancestors had had it since 1796 [Durham Mining Museum website says 1726, with an explosion in June 1757 killing 16 miners]. In 1843, as Eighton Moor Colliery, it was shown on a wagonway which went NW past Farnacres Colliery to R. Team, and NNE past Sheriff Hill Colliery to join the Ouston and Pelaw wagonway. Subsequently owned by Perkins and Partners, Birtley Iron Co, Pelaw Mian Collieries Ltd and the NCB from 1947. Subsidiary pits: Street Pit (NZ 2705 5748), illustrated by Hair, joined to the Team Colliery by a wagonway now a road, disused in 1897; and also Meadow Pit (NZ 2616 5820), Flat Pit (NZ 2685 5762), Corn Pit (N of Team Colliery), all disused in 1897, and Nelly Pit (SW of Low Eighton), Chance Pit (very close to Nanny Pit), and Nanny Pit (NZ 2580 5823), disused in 1967. There were others, some on O.S. 1st ed., Bank, Betty, Centre, Corner, Dene, Emidy, George, Green, Hall, Hill, Landsale, Lane, Letch, North, Quarry, Rush, Spring, Wood. Team Colliery closed in 1941, and the site was reclaimed in.

Part of a polished axe (blade end) was found near Washington, and a drawing of it is filed in the Museum of Antiquities. It was then returned to the owner via the Hancock Museum.

The first William of Washington took this surname on his exchange of lands at Hartburn before 1183 with Bishop Puiset. Heirs of the Washington family sold the manor in 1613 to Bishop James for his youngest son. The medieval manor house was largely rebuilt as Washington Old Hall in the early 17th century. The hall came into the hands of 3 owners, and was usually let, notably to John Brack (late 18th century). In 19th century it was divided into tenements, in 1937 condemned and vacated. In the 1930s local historian and schoolmaster Frederick Hill created a preservation society and raised funds from the USA and UK to restore the hall to the layout of a 1667 inventory. Hill died in 1955. The Hall was restored in 1950s and reopened in 1955. In 1957 it was given to the National Trust. Medieval in origin, the central block of the house merely represents the early hall, but the west (kitchen) wing retains medieval arches into the screens passage, a lancet and masonry, of C12 (National Trust) or C13 (Honeyman). The house was largely rebuilt in C17 (various dates have been suggested) to provide a 2-storeyed wing at each end of the hall, attics above, a S stair turret, and perhaps a N entrance porch. Brack made further alterations in 1792, particularly in the E wing. In the 1950s' restoration there was considerable renewal of stonework and insertion of foreign features. George Washington (1732-1799) the first president of the United States of Amercia, was a direct descendant of William Washington. The Washington family coat of arms is widely considered to be the basis of the Stars and Stripes and is certainly the origin of the Washington State flag. Washington Old Hall, the ancestral family home, is a hugely successful tourist attraction particularly with US tourists. Sunderland now enjoys a Friendship Agreement with Washington DC. The Hall is H-shaped in plan. Windows feature stone mullions and metal frames. There are large stone fireplaces. The wood panelling in the Panelled Room was brought from the old Manor House in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. The staircase was brought from the Whire Hart Hotel in Guildford.