In 1900 or 1901 there was found "in an Ancient British grave at Fulwell" a skeleton "about four feet below the surface in a sand bed; it was covered with (limpet) shells (of which there were several hundreds)...and a large stone on the top". Also in the grave, described as a cist in the second reference in source 1, were fragments of cinerary urns. The urns, of which there is a photo, were broken by the workmen, as were the large stones which formed the cist", and the bones were covered up. As the find was apparently made by contractors for the new streets, and the grave cover was used for the foundations of the new street footpaths, it seems possible that it was not actually found in Fulwell Quarry, as Miket suggests. The above grid ref is that favoured by the Ordnance Survey.

In 1323 Robert, lord of Hylton, granted the chantry of St. Mary in the chapel of Hylton to his clerk, Robert de Chillingham. Among its endowments were 4.5 acres in the vill of Clowcroft. In 1361 Clowcroft, Grindon and Ford were held by Alexander Hilton for 1 knight's fee, value c marc. In 1431 Robert Conyers held the manor from Sir William Hilton, and in 1438, with the manors of Homyldon, Barnes and Pavyllon, Johanna Bromflete held 2 tofts and 17 acres in Clowcroft from Baron Hilton. In c. 1447 the manor was held by Sir William Bowes whose family continued to hold it from the Hiltons through the C16. The last known reference is 1608 when it was part of a grant of the manors of Hamildon and Barnes to Ralph Bowes of Barnes. There is no precise clue to its location. It was not a township but, because in grants it is often joined to Ford, Grindon, Hamilden or Barnes, it is likely to have been south of the River Wear. Dated C14th.

In 1448, in an i.p.m. of one of the Hylton family, who held the manor of Bermeston, reference was made to "the site of the mansion worth nothing". There is no further information, and no clue as to its location. Can it be equated with the hall shown on the Burleigh and Thompson map of 1737? Dated C15th.

During the Middle Ages Barmston was held by the Hylton family , and their property there included a mill, sometimes two. In 1323 there is reference to the mill of Bermeston, and in 1448 there were two water mills, "worth nothing because totally waste". There is no further information, and their location is unknown though there were, within the township, several burns running south into the Wear. Dated C14th.

During the Middle Ages Barmston was held by the Hylton family, and their property there included a park. In 1323 the chantry of St. Mary, in the chapel of Hylton, included among its endowments the honey and wax in the trees in the park of Bermeston (presumably from wild bees). And in 1448 the manor of Bermeston included a park of 90 acres, worth 4d each. There is no further information, and its location is unknown. Dated C14th.

The hall was demolished either in 1966, because subsidence had made it unsafe (1), or in 1968-70 (2). It is shown on the O.S. 1967 map. Part was "said to be C16" (2), and a rather poor drawing in (1) suggests it originally consisted of a central block with a projecting wing at each end, cf. Washington, apparently with mullioned windows. Can this be right? It has been described as "a Georgian stone-built house with bow window", and was listed II*. (1) lists various owners/occupiers, though with no evidence - William Hylton, one of the Pilgrim Fathers; in the 18th century Nicholas Lambton Esq.; and the last tenants Messrs. J. and C. Cook, metal founders. Demolished in 1966 in the expansion of Washington New Town. Despite its apparent C19 exterior, it was an old house with work from C16 onwards. Some rooms were panelled, in an early C18 style. The rich ceiling decoration was probably C19. The estate belonged to various families, the Hyltons of Hylton Castle, the Carrs of Cocken Hall, and then the Davison family. In 1856 the estate belonged to Joseph Cook, of Messrs. J and C. Cook, ironfounders, spade and shovel makers. It was still the seat of Joseph Cook in 1894. Greenwood's map of 1820 shows North Biddick as a single house surrounded by trees. The 1857 First Edition Plan shows the hall with its ornamental gardens and orchards to the north and approach drive from Biddick Lane. The second edition map 1896 shows changes to the frontage of the hall and additional new outbuildings to its north. An entrance lodge was also present by this time at the Biddick Lane end. This building is still extant. The 1929 plan shows the entrance drive realigned towards the south. This boundary retains a line of mature chestnut trees probably planted at this time.

There were three pits: Frederick (1815-1914), Victoria and Wellington (1845-1974). Owners were George Elliot, then J Johansson and Sir George Elliot, 1882 John Bowes & Partners, then Johansson, Gordon & Co Ltd, then Leversons Wallsend Collieries Ltd, 1940 Washington Coal Co Ltd and 1947 National Coal Board. O.S. maps show a large settlement, with terraces of houses round two 3-sided squares, Post Office, two chapels, a school (built 1863 for 600 children), miners' hall (substantial brick building built in 1891 at a cost of £1800, including a lecture hall, reading room, billiard room, community room and caretakers house), spoil heaps and mine buildings, all immediately east of Little Usworth, and a wagonway going ENE to join the NER Newcastle, Leamside, Ferryhill Line. There was an explosion on 5 June 1850 which killed 13 miners and another on 2 March 1885 which killed 42. There is a memorial to the victims in Holy Trinity Churchyard in Donwell. In 1890 the engine house was destroyed by fire. Whellan reports that in 1894 the colliery produced 1000 tons a day and employed 750 men and boys. In 1959 the colliery was joined to Follonsby Colliery (HER 6942) by an underground loco road. Maudlin seam abandoned 1954. Brockwell seam abandoned 1914.

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.