Over four dozen flints were picked up by J.A. Smythe and his companions, some time before the publication of his article in 1911, from the surface of the mound. They comprised "mesolithic cores, blades and flakes, plus unworked pieces. Only ten flints now survive. They comprise six waste flakes, three cores, one flake with minor retouch".

Round gravelly mound resting on boulder clay, 67 m in diameter, 6.2 m high. Its composition resembles "the Kirkley kaims, with the difference that limestone and whinstone are comparatively scarce; granite and porphyritic rocks are fairly plentiful". In 1966 a 10 foot deep hole in its top (date of digging unknown) revealed only glacial sand and gravel. It is therefore assumed, by most authorities, to be in origin a glacial kaim but, because worked flints and a polished stone axe have been found on its top, and others nearby, it may have had secondary use as a barrow. Greenwell believed it was a burial place, and it is scheduled as a "burial mound". Source 7 declares it has a ring ditch around it.

Great square-headed bronze brooch, found at or just off Whitehill Point on the north bank of the River Tyne, between Howdon and North Shields. Presented to the Society of Antiquaries by the River Tyne Commissioners 30 November 1982. Length 144 mm, width of headplate 53 mm, width of foot 41 mm max. In poor condition, edges corroded, and much of the decoration reduced by patination. Has been silvered or tinned. The brooch could have originated up-river of where it was found. Dated C7th.

In c. 1225 the prior of Tynemouth founded a settlement of fishermen to provide fish for the priory. Developed W from Pow Burn close to shore, some houses on piles, each with a quay, 100 houses by 1292. Pressure from Newcastle persuaded king to order ships not to call, so leading to period of decay until c. 1390 when redevelopment began with reclamation of land below HWM, to be covered with 200 houses. In 1530 Newcastle again checked commerce, and for rest pf C16 Shields was in decay. Township was a long narrow strip along the river, carved out of Tynemouth, and without fields. The actual town came to consist of a long narrow street parallel with the Tyne, between Low Lights (E) and the Bull Ring (W), called Low Town Street. On N side there were houses on the steep slope with flights of stairs between; on the S short lanes and quays to the water's edge. The E half of the S side has been cleared to form large quays. Most of the houses on the N side were cleared in slum clearance and the banks landscaped. In the 19th century the 'Low Town' with its warren of tightly packed houses, streets and alleyways was described by the Shields Daily News thus 'Who can estimate the amount of immoral conversation that passes, the unlawful schemes plotted, or the low filthy literature read in the common lodging houses and the temperance that prevails in this nest of vice?'. The buildings on Ropery Banks were later demolished. There were over 100 inns and taverns in 'Low Town'. Many were described in their day as 'dirty, seedy drinking dens of vice and intemperance, where drunkenness and prostitution were commonplace and many immoral schemes were plotted'. Maitland's Quays ran behind Bell Street from Maitland's Lane to Mullin's Quay. The Low Town was sketched by William Henry Charlton, who was born in Newcastle in 1846. He visited North Shields many times over a period of over a decade to sketch the busy vibrant port. When the lower town became too overcrowded in the 18th century, buildings began to built on the plateau 60 feet above the low town. The upper and lower parts of the town were linked by a series of steep stairs. One of the first development of the upper town was the elegant Dockwray Square in 1763. Howard Street and Northumberland Square further north were the flagship developments of the 'new town'. They were laid out in Georgian tradition and pre-dated Newcastle's Grainger Town by over a quarter of a century. John Dobson designed many of North Shields buildings. Dated C13th.

Symondsett (with Preston), property of the prior and convent of Durham, is first mentioned in a lease of 1260. By 1464 it was on its own, Preston (whether site or merely name) having disappeared, and was paying a rent larger than some of its neighbours. In 1489 the priory's tenants of Southwick Fulwell, Wearmouth, Harton, Westoe, Monkton and Hedworth divided the territory of Simonside between them so that it ceased to exist as a township, and paid separate rent for this land for the rest of the Middle Ages. Note that Hodgson believed Simonside was the township and Preston the village with in it, and if this were so and Preston had been deserted in the C15, that might explain the 1489 split. Simonside was, however, named among the endowments of the new dean and chapter of Durham, and a number of sites called Simonside, including the hall which Hodgson believed to be the first enclosure of part of the common fields, existed into the C20. Parish was formed in 1875; church was consecrated in 1880. Dated C13th.

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 seems to be assumed that it was subsumed into Simonside. John Hodgson, in his Collectanea Topographica Vol. II, p. 45 (?early C19), 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". Dated C11th.

Two sculptured stones, for long thought to be Roman, were found at Blake Chesters and presented to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle on separate occasions by Cuthbert and George Rippon (2). One is a shoulder of a bust in armour, "definitely post-Roman and probably...of 18th century date", (5). The other is the "head of a colossal statue, in laurel wreath; the lower part of the face is broken off. The features, with protruding eyeballs and hooked nose, seem intended to be grotesque. The work is of good quality". Wrongly provenanced as from Carvoran (4). "Obviously not Roman and probably dates from the 18th century", (5). Coins are also reported to have been found in the vicinity (1).

Brand quotes a document of 1320, "...usque ad culturam que vocatur Blake Chestres in campo de est Chirton", and in the early 19th century it was said that a Roman station called Blake Chesters could still be seen at Chirton (2). Two fragments of sculpture, for a long time thought to be Roman and still extant, were found at the site in the C19, and it was reported that coins had been recovered from the neighbouring fields. The actual site, however, cannot be located. Source 6 believed it was north or west of Preston Colliery, near Billy Mill farm, and the O.S. that it was somewhere in the vicinity of "Camp Terrace" on the west edge of North Shields. The latter site, however, is not within the boundaries of Chirton (probably the medieval East Chirton) on 1st ed. O.S. map. The matter is now rather academic since the area today is densely built up.

This well was listed Grade II in 1949 with the following description:
'Well. First reference in Brand History of Newcastle (1789) Vol II, p 45n; present brick wall built 1981. Cleaning revealed a rectangular, stepped stone enclosure. Local tradition associates the well with the Venerable Bede. Source: Archaeologia Aeliana, series 2, vol VIII (1880) pp 76-77; Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, series 4, vol IX (1943) p 82.'
Brand (1) associated the well with Bede, and said it was customary as late as 1740 to dip diseased children in the well in the hope they would be restored to health. It was also the centre of celebrations on Midsummer Eve. He implied that both activities had ceased long before his book was published.
While most subsequent authors have repeated Brand, usually verbatim, James Wood of Lincoln's Inn wrote to the clerk to Monkton Parish Council (8) suggesting the well had nothing to do with Bede, but was a wishing well or "bedes-well" (bed=prayer). a type known from pre-Conquest documentary sources.
In the early19th century Cuthbert Ellison of Hebburn Hall placed a Latin inscription over (or round) the well, and this has now been renewed. From the late19th century until recently it was in danger of burial from tipping of slag, and in the early 20th century it was surrounded by a brick wall and iron railings in an attempt to protect it.

Rectilinear double-ditched enclosure. MPP classification: Enclosure / Rectilinear / Asymmetric / Sub-rectangular / Not elongated / Corners curved / Straight sides 2 / Ditches 2 / Incomplete / Internal features none / Entrance (terminal defined, aspect E). Line of ditch on N side is partly obscured by the sike.
The enclosure is defined by two ditches, and east facing entrance and has a pit or hollow in its south-east corner. Internally this enclosure measures 45x37m. The northern side of this enclosure probably coincides with the banks of the burn and is not visible. A ditch that is visible as a cropmark on the north side of the burn on the same air photos is likely to be the remains of a post medieval field boundary and it has not been mapped (Alison Deegan AP Interpreter).