The Boldon Book of 1183 (a survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) mentions Cleadon pound or pinfold. Wawn in his 'Notes on the Antiquities of Cleadon' says that the pound was Cleadon's oldest heritage. From at least the 18th century the pound was located at the junction of West Park Road (formerly Pinfold Lane) and Boldon Lane. Today there is a plaque and seat at the road junction to commemorate it. The pinfold was also known as a pinder and leant its name to Pinder Lane (now West Park Road). The pinfold was replaced by a post and rail fence in the early 20th century. Dated C12th.

A baseball diamond can be seen on an aerial photograph from 1945 in the area to the east of the accommodation blocks, suggesting that they were probably used by US servicemen.

A steel 501 ton British motor-vessel, registered in London. 48.89m long, 8.1m beam and 2.84m draught. She was built in 1934 by George Brown & Co. at Greenockland and was owned by F.T. Everard & Sons Ltd. Her single bronze propeller was powered by a five-cylinder oil/diesel engine. Her aft-positioned machinery was built by the Newbury Diesel Co. On 24 May 1943 the Grit was en route from King's Lynn to the Tyne when she collided with another vessel and foundered six and a half miles east of Whitburn. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 57 939 W 001 10 482. Her cargo was wheat.

An iron 2549 ton British-registered steamship. 91.45m long, 12.25m beam and 6.36m draught. She was built as the Heros in 1899. At the time of her loss she was owned by the Clydesdale Navigation Co. Ltd and managed by Nisbet, George & Co. of Glasgow. Her single bronze propeller was powered by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine. The vessel was armed with a 610kg stern-mounted deck gun that fired 12lb shells. On 26 July 1918 she was 2.5 miles east of Souter lighthouse carrying ballast from Middlesbrough to the Tyne when she was torpedoed by German submarine UC-40. The following day the Blairhall foundered with the loss of one crewman. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 57 879 W 001 16 538. A porthole recovered from a wreck thought to be the BLAIRHALL, position 54 57.488N 001 17.418W. (Droit A/4208).

A steel 1913 ton British steamship. 81.4m long, 11.6m beam and 5.4m draught. She was built by J. Crown & Co. Ltd at Sunderland in 1917 and owned by E.R. Newbiggin of Newcastle upon Tyne. Her single screw was powered by a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine. The ship had a bronze or brass pedestal-mounted steering helm and brass telegraph. On 28 June 1918 she was en route from London to the Tyne carrying ballast, when she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine UC-17 four miles north-east of Roker lighthouse. She lies at a general depth of 40m and stands upright. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 56 420 W 001 15 470 or N 54 56 420 W 001 14 094. Collings gives the co-ordinates as N 54 57 00 W 001 17 21. Spokes gives the sinking date as 19th June 1918.

A steel 9141 ton British motor-tanker, registered in London. She was built in 1938 for the Inver Tanker Co. Ltd in Germany using frozen currency. The 7 Inver Tankers were meant to supply an oil refinery at Dublin, which was never built. On 14 December 1939 the Inverlane was en route from Abadan to Invergorden with a cargo of fuel and furnace oil when she detonated a German-laid mine off the coast of Tynemouth. The explosion left one crew member dead, 3 missing and several seriously injured. For 36 hours she drifted over 26 miles. She burned for five days and was used at night as a marker by the Germans. She sank 1 mile north of Roker lighthouse. In July 1940 the ship was cut into two halves. The fore-part was taken to South Shields for repairs then towed to the Hughs Bolckow Shipbreaking Co. Ltd at Blyth for conversion into a blockship. The wreck off Seaburn covers a considerable area and is collapsed. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 56 294 W 001 21 002 or N 54 56 305 W 001 21 003. Sunderland Echo headlines Saturday 16 December 1939 'GHOST SHIP COMES ASHORE AT DAWN IN SANDY BAY ON THE NORTH EAST COAST'. The tanker Inverlane is recorded as being sunk by a mine in December 1939 (two dates recorded by Spokes – 14th and 16th December). She lies in 10m of water and is recorded in the database as weighing 9100T and 9141T.

The Pelican was a steel flat-barge. 30m long and 12m beam. She was fitted with a compressor, crane and moon-pool for drilling-through. She is believed to have been on charter to M. Devlin of the Tyne Towage Co. The vessel was under tow with a cargo of steel pipes and drilling equipment when she foundered in bad weather in 1998-1999 and was lost south of the rifle-range buoy off Whitburn and two miles ENE of Roker pier lighthouse. The wreck lies at a general depth of 25m, upside down with the crane sticking out on one side. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 56 25 W 001 18 20

A steel 730 ton British steamship, registered in Newcastle upon Tyne. 55.32m long, 8.58m beam and 3.73m draught. She was built as the Gouwzee by Gebr. Bodewes at Lobith in Holland. At the time of her loss she was owned by the Tyne Tees Shipping Co. Ltd. Her single steel propeller was powered by a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine. Her machinery was built by Verschure & Co. in Amsterdam. On 21 December 1932 the Gateshead was en route from Newcastle to Amsterda, with a general cargo plus coal when she had a collision 7 miles east of Sunderland, foundered and was lost. The wreck is in a general depth of 50m. It is said to be very substantial and intact, standing upright some 7m high. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 56 235 W 001 09 845

A steel 4317 ton British steamship, registered in Newcastle-upon Tyne. 114.3m long, 15.57m beam and 7.69m draught. She was built in 1917 by the Sunderland Ship Building Co. and at the time of her loss, was owned by the Quayside Shipping Co. Ltd. Her single propeller was powered by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine. Her machinery was built by the North East Marine Engineering Co. Ltd at Sunderland. On 1 August 1941 the Trident had just arrived from Montreal with a cargo of grain and beans, when she was bombed by German aircraft while standing at anchor offshore. The crew abandoned ship. She sank the following day. No positive identification has been made for this site. Two sets of coordinates have been supplied both of large wrecks - the first puts the wreck five and quarter miles east of Roker lighthouse N 54 55 30 W 001 14 00. Survey vessels failed to find her here in 1952 and 1957. Modern Admiralty charts do show a large wreck close to these co-ordinates at a depth of 46m. The second set of coordinates are for a wreck that lies five and a half miles south-east of the River Tyne South Pier N 54 00 849 W 001 14 065 at a depth of 52m. The NMR lists this wreck as 4 miles from bouy 20C, Tynemouth. This wreck lies in two large sections and has been dived on several occasions. Large portholes and the brass steering helm which bears the words 'John Hastie & Coy Ltd, Greenock, Patent 2464' have already been recovered. Efforts to trace the numbers have been fruitless. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. Two NMR numbers NZ 46 NE 111 and NZ 45 NE 4.

A steel 963 ton Norwegian-registered motor vessel. 65.53m long, 0.54m beam and 3.88m draught. She was built in 1921 by Odense Staalskibsvaerft at Odense for A/S Granger Rolf (Fred Olsen). Her single steel propeller was powered by a six-cylinder oil/diesel engine. Her aft machinery was built by Akt Burmeistr & Wain of Copenhagen. She had one deck, a 42m poop-deck and a 9.4m forecastle. On 26 July 1940 she was en route from Sunderland to Cowes, Isle of Wight, with coal. She detonated a German-laid mine just north of Hendon Rock. The vessel was blown in half and six of the crew were killed. She now lies in two sections 70m apart at a depth of 16m. The bronze propeller was salvaged by divers in the 1960s. She was next discovered in 1978. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 54 521 W 001 19 320 or N 54 54 510 W 001 19 621