Millfield is a suburb and electoral ward of the

City of Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most populous settlement in the Wearsid ...

, in

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, England. Millfield was part of the Sunderland North parliamentary constituency for elections to the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

, but in 2010 was made a ward of the new Sunderland Central parliamentary constituency. Primarily consisting of low-rise suburban households, it is flanked on its east side by the

A1231 road The A1231 road connects Sunderland and Washington in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is the main road connecting these towns and is one of the main roads giving access to Sunderland city centre. South Sunderland The A1231 originates as a ...

, and on its west side by

Sunderland Royal Hospital Sunderland Royal Hospital is an acute general hospital in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. It is managed by the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in the Sunderland Union Workhouse Infirmary which ...

. The Millfield metro station is centrally located within Mllfield, besides an

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

store on St. Marks Road, and Masjid e Anwaar e Madinah, the largest mosque in Sunderland. It connects Millfield to the

Tyne and Wear Metro The Tyne and Wear Metro is an overground and underground light rail rapid transit system serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and the City of Sunderland (together forming Tyne and Wear). The owners Nexus have ...

History

An early Testament to Millfield can be found in the

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

, where it is described as "a railway station in Durham; on the Sunderland, Leamside, and Bishop-Auckland railway, 1 mile West of Sunderland". Prior to the 20th Century, much of Millfield was undeveloped, being primarily constituted of farmland and scattered houses. A

Brickfield A brickfield is a field or other open site where bricks are made. Land may be leased by an owner to a brickmaster, by whom the manufacture of bricks may be conducted. Historically, the topsoil was typically removed and the clay beneath was str ...

was present adjacent to the old train station, where bricks were produced using clay sourced on the same site. An Engine Works and a quarry were also present near the station. Beginning in 1890, terraced houses began to be constructed where the former train station and brickfields were in order to house Sunderland's growing population. By the mid 1910's, all of Millfield had been turned into suburbs.

Demography

In the 2021 Census, Millfield ward counted 10,616 residents, down 11.9% from the 2011 census. Of these, 56% of residents reported they lived with their family, 36.3% reported they lived alone, 3.2% lived alone with dependent children, and 4.5% had "other" accommodation. The ethnic identity of Millfield's residents as listed in the 2011 and 2021 census is as follows: At 28%, Millfield has the highest Foreign born population among its residents of any ward in Sunderland.

Notes

1. Population data for Millfield collected by the ONS does not include the entire area of The Metropolitan District Ward of Millfield.

References

City of Sunderland suburbs Sunderland {{TyneandWear-geo-stub