Cleadon

Cleadon is a suburban village in South Tyneside in the North East of England. Prior to the creation of Tyne and Wear in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, the village was part of the historic County Durham. In the 2011 UK Census the population of the South Tyneside ward of Cleadon and East Boldon was 8,427. Nearby population centres include East Boldon, Whitburn, and Jarrow. The village is located approximately from the city of Sunderland and 5 miles from the town South Shields. It is situated on the south west of Cleadon Hills, an example of a Magnesian Limestone grassland home to a number of regionally and nationally rare species. For much of its history, the economy of Cleadon was based around agriculture. Now it is largely residential and has developed as a commuter town. The village has two churches, a primary school, and a commercial core with shops and pubs. The earliest evidence of human occupation in the area around Cleadon dates back to the Mesolithic period (8,000-4,500BC). Although there is no direct evidence of Mesolithic habitation in Cleadon itself, flint scatters have been identified in surrounding sites including St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, suggesting hunting parties travelled through the area. It is likely that Neolithic (4,500-2,400BC) farmers were active in Cleadon, evidenced by further discoveries of flint, but the exact locations of any settlements remain unknown. Cleadon was first recorded as Clyuedon in the Boldon Book (1183), sharing an entry with Whiteberne, or modern-day Whitburn. The name Clyduedon roughly translates to hill (dun) of the cliffs (clifta). It is of Old English origin. It is likely this name refers to the surrounding landscape. The village is not close to any major rivers, so its water supply was fed by springs and wells. A village pond, which survives today, is likely to have facilitated human settlement for many centuries. Cleadon and Whitburn's entry in the Boldon Book refers to land ownership, dues, and services, suggesting that a complex administrative system had been in place a number of years before 1183.