dating from the Stuart period. It has the Greenwell arms over the entrance, and is now fast falling into a ruinous condition.
A Corner of Washington Hall.
Washington Hall, a large, old stone mansion, built in the form of an E, with high-pitched roof and gable-ends, stands to the south side of the low hill on which the church is built. The lights are divided by stone mullions and transoms. It was erected by the family of James, possibly by the Bishop, and was, in Hutchinson’s time, the seat of the Bracks.[17] It is now, like the old hall at Rainton, in a pitiable state, and let in tenements.
In the neighbourhood of Sunderland there are several interesting houses. High Barnes, for long the home of the Ettricks, is now a convent, and has been considerably altered. Low Barnes, the Pembertons’ old home, is let to a laundry company. Ford Hall is a comparatively modern house, but is interesting as having been the birthplace of General Havelock. Pallion Hall, an old stone mansion, has recently been pulled down.
The old hall at West Boldon is more modern, having been erected in 1709 by the Fawcetts. The house has the arms of that family over the main entrance, and several of the rooms are wainscotted. A quaint record of another generation may well be noted in the late Mr. Boyle’s own words: "On one of the window-panes in a bedroom, in a neat hand of the early part of last century, someone has written with a diamond:
"Beautifull Grace Andrew."
On the next pane, in equally delicate script, another hand has added:
"Fair written Name, yet fairer in my heart,
No Diamond cutts so deep as Cupid’s Dart."
Travelling by railway from Boldon to Newcastle, the house now known as the Mulberry Inn is a familiar object, just outside of Felling station. It has been a picturesque building, and for long was the residence of the Brandlings. It is now undergoing a serious alteration. A small stone summer-house, once in the garden, still stands on one of the station platforms.