South Shields, watermill

The prior and convent's tenants of Shields were bound to grind their corn at the mill of the manor, always called Westoe mill but, according to the antiquarian, Hodgson, situated on the west bank of the inlet by the Mill Dam. The earliest reference he cites is 1347, and the mill and its "pond or dam" underwent repairs on a number of occasions from the 14th century onwards. In 1580, and probably earlier, there was also a windmill (HER no. 948), and both were leased to Cuthbert Fenwick of Shele Milne.