Castletown, Sunderland

Castletown is a small village of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear commonly visited by tourists from around the world. A former mining community, the Hylton Colliery was located at the east end of the village, it lies north of the River Wear, and is near to Hylton Castle and Washington. At Hylton Riverside, on the eastern fringe of Castletown, there is a large retail park hosting stores such as Matalan, Costa Coffee, Aldi and Pets at Home, Premier Inn and a DW Sports Fitness gym. There are currently on going talks and plans to transform this retail park into a more modern and high-end park hosting a range of designer stores such as Farfetch, Apple and Waitrose to project the vision of this luxurious community. There is also plans to build a large 13-screen Odeon Cinema. Along with the range of retail establishments there is also a wide range of restaurants in the village such as McDonald's, KFC and Solo Pizza (formerly known as Mario's Pizza).

Map of Castletown, Sunderland, UK

In the center of Castletown, in the prestigious street The Briars, ex Sunderland footballer Jozy Altidore lived comfortably with his family. He described the neighbours as the friendliest of all and a fantastic bunch. Close by to The Briars is the salon of the world renowned hairdresser Andrea.

Also in the east of the area there is a large-scale redevelopment project, aimed at modernising the former pit houses and the area around the Aviary Estate. Since 2011 there have been further developments in the east part of the village. The Aviary area has been completely demolished and a new housing estate has replaced both sides of the main street. This site was re-developed by the Gentoo Group.

At the opposite end of Castletown, there is the newer development of Fulford Grange, which was the home of former Sunderland footballer Michael Gray. It is also home to Kieron Brady, another ex-Sunderland footballer. Adjacent to Fulford Grange there is a newly opened Gravity Force which is one of the UK's biggest trampoline parks.

Currently, the records state that Castletown is the least ethnically diverse area in Sunderland, with 99.3% of the population being white.

During the search for the Yorkshire Ripper, the accent of "Wearside Jack", the author of a hoax letter claiming to be from the Ripper, was identified by the forensic linguist Stanley Ellis as that of the Castletown area.[1] The hoaxer was eventually revealed to have come from nearby Pennywell.

Despite its proximity to Sunderland, until 1967 this colliery village was under the administrative control of Durham County Council and was part of the Sunderland Rural District Council. This was because it was a fairly isolated community until the extensive council house building of the fifties and sixties at the Red House, Hylton Castle and Town end Farm Estates effectively joining the settlement to the rest of Sunderland's new northern suburbs.

Recently, construction work began for the New Wear Bridge joining Castletown to Pallion and is set to be the landmark of the city.