Origins and early History.

Boldon originates from as long ago as Saxon times and over a long period of time there has appeared a few different explanations as to its meaning and origin.

The most creditable interpretation  comes from the Anglo-Saxon suffix “don” or “dun” which means rising ground, and “bol”, a building. Thus , the building on the hill would be “Bol-don”.

However, another source gives “don” the river and “bol”, a building. Thus, the “building on the river Don “.

It is worth noting that in Hatfields Survey of 1345 - 1381 it is shown that our neighbour “Cleadon”  is “Clevedon”, and in the book of 1183 it is shown as “Cleydona”, whitst Speed,s map of 1671 gives it the spelling of “Cleydon”.

The choice is now yours: Rising ground or river.

It is interesting to note that although it was the name of the village at the time of Bishop Pudsey,s survey, in the parish records of 1573 it is given as “Bowedon”, this name also appearing on Saxtons map of Durham, dated 1576.

Up to the beginning of the 12^th century, Boldon appears to have been a place of very little importance but it is thought that a small settlement of some sort was present on Boldon Hill where a wooden church occupied the site of the present St. Nicholas.

It is highly probable that Boldon hill was inhabited from pre Roman times because on the flat coastal plain of North Durham it, together with Cleadon Hill, offered a suitable site for defence purposes, and in those turbulent times the main requisite of any settlement was a good defensive position which was a condition of survival.

Going back to prehistorical times, some 300 million years ago, the area would have been a vast region of forest which, over a long period of time changed into the coal resources of Durham , providing one of the most important industries of the area, that of mining, which in itself dictated many of the histo-geographical factors of the area and gave the impetus to other industries at the time of the Industrial Revolution.

Nearby Roman occupation is evident at South Shields. Here, the romans built a fort and a harbour to supply the garrison on Hadrians Wall, and judging by the findings at the fort, a flourishing settlement must have existed at the time.

When the Romans left Britain we were then raided by a wave of invaders coming from the North Sea after crossing from Denmark. It was these raiders that gave these islands its name of Angle land or England. It seems certain that the Angles had a settlement at Boldon because H.Thorpe M.A.  refers to a “single inhumed Anglian burial found at East Boldon in his paper on the Green Villages of Durham. However, this could well have been just an isolated burial by passing Angles, and does not indicate that a permanent settlement existed at Boldon.

Saxon Times:

In Saxon times, the Jarrow Slake or JarrowsLake as it is sometimes refered to, spread over the country as far South as Boldon where it received the waters of the River Don. The Don was at that time navigable for a short distance upstream and was thought to have been a haven for Viking ships on their many forays in the area, and some evidence of this was found when drainage operations were being carried out when some remains of a flat bottom punt like boat were found buried in the mud on the bed of the Don.

            A Surtees publication states that :- The framework of a ship of Scandinavian origin was found in the bed of the River Don, when in 1874 a main drain was being laid in the Don Valley for the service of the two Boldons (Colliery and West Boldon) about 250 yards above the viaduct of the Stanhope/ Tyne railway to the south east of Boldon Colliery Station. The workmen came across the blackened form of a ship apparently with a curved heel, lying some eight feet below ground level. They only recovered part of the keel therefore it was very difficult to determine the actual size of the boat.