Discovery dig starts at St Peter's

Work starts this week to bore into the ground at University of Sunderland’s St Peter’s Campus in a bid to find out more about what the city’s coastline would have looked like in the 7th century.

The work, which involves going up to 15metres below the ground is designed to enhance understanding of the Wearmouth - Jarrow monastic site, which centres on St Peter’s Church in Sunderland and St Paul’s Church in Jarrow and has this year been nominated for World Heritage Site status.

Rt Rev Mark Bryant is Bishop of Jarrow and Chair of the Wearmouth - Jarrow Partnership, he said: “One of the exciting things about the Wearmouth - Jarrow site is that, while we do know a lot about its role in the 7th Century, there is still so much to discover. This work is vital to help us understand more clearly what the shoreline would have looked like in Saxon times, when Bede would have travelled to and from the monastery by boat. The material retrieved from the dig will be carbon dated and from that we can build up a better picture of the river.”

Jointly funded by English Heritage and Sunderland City Council,  the work is being carried out by Museum of London Archaeological Services and results are expected at the end of December this year.

The twin monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow is this years UK nomination for World Heritage Site Status. A decision on the nomination will be made in July 2012.