Houghton and Washington East (UK Parliament constituency)

Herrington Country Park is a country park and open public space in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Located adjacent to Penshaw Monument, the park was built on the site of a former colliery. The park has developed into a significant home for wildlife, hosting up to 100 species of birds. The park also includes a play area, sculptures, an amphitheatre, and a model boat sailing site at the lake.The park has hosted several major events, including Lets Rock, the UKs largest retro festival brand in 2018 and 2019, and BBC Radio One's Big Weekend in 2005, with Gwen Stefani, Foo Fighters and the Black Eyed Peas, as well as the Olympic Torch Relay in 2012. It also acts as the venue for the local Kubix Festival since 2018.Since 20 July 2019, the park has held a free weekly 5km parkrun on a Saturday morning starting at 9am.

The 1815 Philadelphia train accident occurred on 31 July 1815, in Philadelphia, County Durham, England, when an early experimental railway locomotive, Brunton's Mechanical Traveller, suffered a boiler explosion. This engine, also known as the Steam Horse, ran on four wheels but was pushed by mechanical feet. This was both the first recorded boiler explosion and the first railway accident causing major loss of life with at least 13 people killed (sources differ). The accident is not included in many texts because it was on an industrial waggonway or plateway, rather than a public railway. Nevertheless, it predated William Huskisson's fatal accident at Parkside by 15 years, and the death toll was not exceeded by any railway accident until 1842 worldwide (see Versailles train crash), and 1861 in the UK (Clayton Tunnel). It also killed more people than any other UK railway boiler explosion of all time, though 26 were killed in a 1912 boiler explosion in San Antonio, USA. Most boiler explosions caused severe mechanical damage but often only the locomotive crew suffered physically; however, Brunton's locomotive was surrounded at the time by a crowd of curious sightseers, who formed the majority of the victims. The first high-pressure steam locomotive, Trevithick's Penydarren engine, had only appeared 11 years earlier in 1804, and engineering understanding of the forces and safety risks involved was still primitive.

Offerton is a hamlet and former civil parish in Tyne and Wear, England. Situated about 4 miles west-southwest of Sunderland city centre. In 1961 the parish had a population of 133.

Newbottle is a village in North East England, lying between Durham (eight miles south westerly) and Sunderland (the city centre is 5 miles (8.0 km) north easterly), one and a half miles north of Houghton-le-Spring. The village occupies an elevated position and is accessed from three sides up a steep bank.

Philadelphia Power Station is a defunct coal-fired power station situated between the villages of Philadelphia and Newbottle, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of Houghton-le-Spring in Tyne and Wear, North East England.

Philadelphia is a village in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the A182 road between Newbottle and Shiney Row.

The village of Penshaw locally , formerly known as Painshaw or Pensher, is an area of the metropolitan district of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically, Penshaw was located in County Durham.

The Penshaw Monument (officially the Earl of Durham's Monument) is a memorial in the style of an ancient Greek temple on Penshaw Hill in the metropolitan borough of the City of Sunderland, North East England. It is located near the village of Penshaw, between the towns of Washington and Houghton-le-Spring in historic County Durham. The monument was built between 1844 and 1845 to commemorate John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham (1792–1840), Governor-General of British North America and author of the Durham Report on the future governance of the American territories. Owned by the National Trust since 1939, it is a Grade I listed structure. The monument was designed by John and Benjamin Green and built by Thomas Pratt of Bishopwearmouth using local gritstone at a cost of around £6000; the money was raised by subscription. On 28 August 1844, while it was partially complete, its foundation stone was laid by Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland in a Masonic ceremony which drew tens of thousands of spectators. Based on the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, it is a tetrastyle temple of the Doric order, with eighteen columns—seven along its longer sides and four along its shorter ones—and no roof or cella (inner chamber). One column contains a spiral staircase leading to a parapeted walkway along the entablature. This staircase was closed to the public in 1926 after a 15-year-old boy fell to his death from the top of the monument. The structure fell into disrepair in the 1930s and was fenced off, then repaired in 1939. It has since undergone further restoration, including extensive work in 1979 during which its western side was dismantled. Floodlit at night since 1988, it is often illuminated in different colours to mark special occasions. The National Trust began to offer supervised tours of the walkway in 2011. Penshaw Monument is a local landmark, visible from up to 80 kilometres (50 mi) away. It appears on the crest of Sunderland A.F.C. and is viewed nationally as a symbol of the North East. It has been praised for the grandeur, simplicity and symbolic significance of its design, especially when seen from a distance. However, critics have said it is poorly constructed and lacks purpose; nineteenth-century architectural journals condemned its lack of a roof and the hollowness of its columns and walls. It features no depiction of the man it honours, and has been widely described as a folly.

St Michael and All Angels' Church is the parish church of Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, England. The church dates from the late 12th century and contains the tomb of Bernard Gilpin.

Herrington is an area in the south of Sunderland, lying within historic County Durham in North East England. The Herringtons are split into East & Middle and West and New villages. East and Middle Herrington is now a largely residential area just off the A690. West and New Herrington are across the A19 road from East and Middle Herrington near Doxford International Business Park.

Houghton-le-Spring ( HOH-tən-lee-SPRING) is a town in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North East England which has its recorded origins in Norman times. Historically in County Durham, it is now administered as part of the Tyne and Wear county. It is situated almost equidistant between the cathedral city of Durham 7 miles (11 kilometres) southwest and Sunderland about 7 mi (11 km) northeast. The town of Seaham and the North Sea lie about 5 mi (8 km) directly east. The villages and towns of Newbottle, Fencehouses and Hetton-le-Hole lie nearby. It has a population of 36,746.Other villages within the Houghton-le-Spring postal district include: Philadelphia, Penshaw, Shiney Row, Chilton Moor and Woodstone Village.

Hastings Hill is a suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Hastings Hill is a housing estate, close to the A19, and the Pennywell and Grindon areas of Sunderland. It was built as a private development in the late 1960s on an area of land between the county borough boundary and the surrounding post war council-built estates. The estate stands close to Hasting Hill, where a burial ground used by prehistoric man in about 2,000BC was excavated in 1911. Several cists were discovered during the excavation, with one containing the remains of a man, a flint knife and an earthenware food vessel.