New Silksworth
village in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England
Silksworth is a suburb of Sunderland, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. The area can be distinguished into two parts, old Silksworth, the original village and township which has existed since the early middle ages, and New Silksworth, the industrial age colliery village which expanded north west of the original settlement. The former colliery being situated to the north west of the village near to the Gilley Law. The population of the ward was 10,931 at the 2011 census.
History
Silksworth was historically a township in the ancient parish of Bishop Wearmouth, in 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Silksworth became a civil parish. In 1894 Silksworth became part of Houghton le Spring Rural District of County Durham, in 1937 Silksworth became part of Sunderland Rural District, on 1 April 1967 the parish was abolished and merged with Sunderland and Houghton-le-Spring and became part of the County Borough of Sunderland and Houghton-le-Spring Urban District. At the 1961 census (the last before the abolition of the parish), Silksworth had a population of 2799. In 1974 Silksworth became part of Sunderland metropolitan district in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear.
Old Silksworth
The area of Silksworth has been subject to human activity since the Bronze Age, with archaeological sites of ancient barrows having been discovered on the surrounding hills. The name of the place itself is thought to be of Anglo-Saxon origin and means 'the worþ (enclosure) of Sigelac (a man's name)'.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “New Silksworth” as village in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as village in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7515280. Authority coordinates are 54.867, -1.417. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 1866, 1894 and 1937.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “New Silksworth”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow New Silksworth primary sources, New Silksworth archive and Silksworth research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “New Silksworth”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “New Silksworth” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.