Sunderland was reported to have more drinking places than any other town of comparable size in the country. In 1880 there were 262 fully licensed houses and 377 beer houses in the town and there was a drink-selling place for every 90 of the adult population and every twentieth house sold drink of some kind.  However, this was much less than 1820 when Low Street, for example, boasted 41 pubs. By 1888 in the same street there were only 12 and by 1916 only three.

The demise in the number of pubs continued during the first half of the twentieth century and by the 1950s Sunderland was down to150 pubs and 50 beer houses with many of the old taverns having disappeared including many which carried names of local notables of the past and commemorated Sunderland's Wearside shipbuilding traditions.

Among the pubs of yesteryear was the George Inn in High Street where Sunderland magistrates held court in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Inquests were held in the Mountain Daisy which is still in Hylton Road whilst two inns in High Street, The Gardener's Tavern and The Grey Horse were the termini for the stage coaches to Durham and Seaham.

Many of the names of old Sunderland pubs seem to have had links with rural surroundings rather than an industrial town, examples being The Dog and Pheasant in Coronation Street, Green Shutters in High Street and Strawberry Cottage in Tunstall Lane.

Examples of old pubs named after notables were the Robin Hood in High Street, Burns Arms in Coronation Street, the General Wolfe, Lord Byron in Malings Rigg, the William Pile in Dame Dorothy Street and the Jack Crawford in Whitburn Street.

The Clipper Ship in Monkwearmouth was a reminder of the days when  vessels like The Torrens were built at Sunderland, while shipyard and waterfront trades were represented by the Boilermakers Arms, Smiths Arms, Waterman's Tavern, Trimmers Arms, Engineers' Arms, Engineers' Tavern and Shipwrights Arms.

Pubs such as the Hat and Feather, Coach and Horses, Argo Frigate, Shoulder of Mutton and New Shades were full of character. Havelock, the hero of the relief of Lucknow was commemorated by two General Havelocks and the Havelock Hotel whilst other names were not exclusive to one pub - there were three Bee Hives, three Oddfellows Arms and three Wheatsheafs in different parts of the town.

Several of the told town's pubs were better known to their patrons by names other than those listed in the official records although the origin of some of their nicknames have been lost with the passing of time  - examples were The Scotch House (Tea Shop), Neptune (No.9), Laings (Vestry), Commercial Vaults (Long Bar), and the Theatre Tavern (Pollys).

Surprisingly, there were relatively few pubs in new Hendon (Villette Road and Ryhope Road area).  Some of the old mansion houses there were turned into pubs, an example being Hendon House, home of the Bramwell family which became the International Hotel. Pub building in Hendon was, however, limited somewhat by restrictions contained in the Will of the Mowbray family who owned much of the land built on in new Hendon. A covenant of February 1850 also imposed a number of restrictions on the new houses to be built in Hendon. A long list of trades were not allowed to be practised in these houses, one of which was use as an ale house.  Pubs such as the Victoria Gardens (formerly Victoria Villa) and Hendon Grange were already in place before the streets were built.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               With thanks to Sunderland Antiquarian Society.