The church is crammed with historical treasures – carvings, stained glass windows, burial vaults, Saxon stone work and underground foundations from the original building – and it can take a good hour to see everything and get a feel for its history.

Which is why the Reverend Tom Gibbons and his congregation are asking Wearsiders with a bit of spare time and an interest in history to step forward and join in.

Mr Gibbons said: "The guides are our front line. Without them the church would have to be closed. Their historical knowledge is excellent."

Mr Gibbons, who joined the busy church a year ago, says he is looking for two kinds of guides – welcome guides, who can greet visitors and keep the church open and attended, and Tour guides, who can show visitors around and explain the history behind the church's treasures.
St Peter's, on Dame Dorothy Street, attracts visitors from all over the

world because it is one of the oldest surviving churches in England and because of its connection to the Venerable Bede.

Bede entered the monastery, which once stood next to the church, at the age of seven, and is considered to be Europe's greatest 8th century scholar.

Mr Gibbons said: "I said in my first service here that Bede was a Mackem and he's Sunderland's most famous son.

"We have our heroes and legends in football but people might not realise how important Bede is to Sunderland.

"We need to wake people up to the fact that Bede was – and is – hugely significant and that this could bring a lot of tourism and jobs to Sunderland."

Derrick Matthew, from Roker, has been a guide at the church for two years. He said: "I like telling people about the church. Often they know things about it too so we swap information. It's just very interesting.

"The role would suit anyone with an interest who could spare an afternoon each week."

Alan Perry, also from Roker, is a tour guide at the church and has family roots in Monkwearmouth. He remembers the not-too-distant past when the area around the church was very different.

He said: "My grandfather used to live in Monkwearmouth and it was a very close community with big houses split into tenements. The people who lived here called themselves Barbary Coasters and used the church for baptisms and funerals.

"The men lived near the shipyards and moved where the work was with their furniture in a wheelbarrow."

During the prosperous years of the Sunderland shipyards, the church was surrounded by houses which went right up to the boundary wall.

Alan said: "It was a very crowded community and the residents were very proud of it."

The area around the church used to be raised because of the ballast weight dumped there by ships.

With the shipyards gone, life around the church is quieter these days, though this could change dramatically over the next two years.

The church is working with the TyneWear Partnership to update the area with the hope that it will become a World Heritage Site.

* To find out more about becoming a guide, call the Rev Tom Gibbons on: 0191 567 3726.

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