River Wear in the context of "Durham, England"

Tyne and Wear (/ˌtaɪn  ...  ˈwɪər/) is a ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The county is largely urbanised, with an area of 540 square kilometres (210 sq mi) and a population of 1,178,389 in 2024. Newcastle is located on the north bank of the River Tyne in the centre of the county, and Gateshead opposite on the south bank. South Shields lies in the east at the river's mouth, and the city of Sunderland in the south-east at the mouth of the River Wear. Nearly all of the county's settlements belong to the Tyneside or Wearside conurbations, the latter of which extends into County Durham. For local government purposes Tyne and Wear comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside. The borough councils collaborate through the North East Combined Authority, which also includes Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council. The county was created in 1974 from south-east Northumberland and north-east County Durham.

The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Monkwearmouth–Jarrow, known simply as Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey (Latin: Monasterii Wirimutham-Gyruum), was a Benedictine double monastery in the Kingdom of Northumbria, England.

Its first house was St Peter's, Monkwearmouth, on the River Wear, founded in AD 674–5. It became a double house with the foundation of St Paul's, Jarrow, on the River Tyne in 684–5. Both Monkwearmouth (in modern-day Sunderland) and Jarrow are now in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. The abbey became a centre of learning, producing one of the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholars, Bede.

Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bishopwearmouth and Sunderland. It includes the area around St. Peter's Church, founded in 674 as part of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, and was once the main centre of Wearside shipbuilding and coalmining in the town. It is now host to a campus of the University of Sunderland and the National Glass Centre. It is served by the three Church of England churches of the Parish of Monkwearmouth. The first nineteenth-century Catholic church built in Monkwearmouth was St Benet's Church which remains active today.

Monkwearmouth is across the river from the Port of Sunderland at Sunderland Docks.

Sunderland (/ˈsʌndərlənd/ ) is a port city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately 10 miles (16 km) south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most populous settlement in the Wearside conurbation and the second-most populous settlement in North East England, after Newcastle.

The centre of the modern city is an amalgamation of three settlements founded in the Anglo-Saxon era: Monkwearmouth, on the north bank of the Wear, and Sunderland and Bishopwearmouth on the south bank. Monkwearmouth contains St Peter's Church, which was founded in 674 and formed part of Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey, a significant centre of learning in the seventh and eighth centuries. Sunderland was a fishing settlement and later a port, being granted a town charter in 1179. The city traded in coal and salt, also developing shipbuilding industry in the fourteenth century and glassmaking industry in the seventeenth century.

Wearside (/ˈwɪərsaɪd/) is a built-up area in County Durham and Tyne and Wear, England. It is named after the River Wear which flows through it and traditionally all in the County of Durham.

In the 2011 census, its official name was the Sunderland Built-up area since Sunderland is its largest part, the urban area extends to the surrounding City of Sunderland district, small parts of County Durham district and a small part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.

Escomb is a village and former civil parish on the River Wear about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) west of Bishop Auckland, in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. In 2001, it had a population of 358. In 2011, the ward had a population of 3323.

Bishop Auckland (/ˈɔːk.lənd/ AWK-lənd) is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Darlington and 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Durham.

Much of the town's early history surrounds the Bishops of Durham and the establishment of Auckland Castle's predecessor, a hunting lodge, which became the main residence of Durham Bishops. This is reflected in the first part of the town's name. During the Industrial Revolution, the town grew rapidly as coal mining became its largest industry. Decline in the coal mining industry during the late twentieth century has changed the town's largest sector to manufacturing.