THE DOMESDAY BOOK 'A description made of all England- covering the lands of every shire and the property of every magnate in fields, manors and men - whether slaves or freemen, cottagers or farmers - in plough teams, horses and other stock, in services and rent.' So wrote a monk in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle about the Doomsday survey.
WHY ?   In a violent age William had a well earned reputation for ruthless efficiency both as a soldier and tax-collector.  In the turbulent years following the Battle of Hastings, William had rewarded his chief barons with land confiscated from these landowners and from tens of thousands of lesser men. He now realised that he had little idea as to their exact holdings: this meant that it he was not raising as much geld as he might and also that he might not be able to spot any potential power-blocks that could be a focus for future rebellions. The Doomsday ensured that all land holdings and tax liabilities were revealed;
THE Boldon Buke Although William Conquered north east England as far as the Scottish border, he did not include it in the Doomsday, The reason for this seems to have been that his control of the area was somewhat tenuous and he did not dare send commissioners north of the Tees without an army to back them up, A century later, however, the Bishop of Durham, very much an independent power in the land, carried out a complete survey of the church lands under his control. One of the first places to be recorded in detail is Boldon , and throughout the rest of the book the phrase 'they pay taxes as at Boldon constantly occurs. The name 'Boldon Book' was therefore soon coined and has stuck to this day.
The rivalry between Newcastle and Sunderland goes back to 1642, when King Charles I awarded the East of England coal trade rights to the coal merchants in Newcastle upon Tyne. In effect Newcastle had effective control of the movement of coal in and out of the North East of England. This put their counterparts in Sunderland out of business.

In 1644 during the early stages of the English Civil War, Newcastle was attacked by the Scottish army siding with Cromwell against King Charles.
Sunderland, probably for the reasons above acted as a supply base for the Scottish army.

There followed the Battle of Boldon Hill, in which an army gathered from Newcastle and County Durham was defeated by the Scottish army. Newcastle was subsequently captured by the Scottish.

Unfortunately today, some of the people involved in this rivalry are not aware of its historical roots. The motive is pinned wholely on the rivalry between the football clubs of the two cities and often leads to violence.

A lot of people in the area have merely been brought up to hate the residents of the rival city without actually knowing exactly why or having any reason of their own. Could this be the reason.If you know of a different explanation E.mail the webmaster and we will endeavour to put it on the site.