To the north of Lambton within the new borough of Sunderland is the attractive new town of Washington. The town is divided into sixteen districts or `villages' each with its own number and name. Eight of the districts are built on the sites of existing villages, of which the most historic is Washington itself. Washington village, is the site of Washington Old Hall, now a National Trust property. The Hall is important in that it was once the home of the ancestors of George Washington, the first president of the United States. The connection dates from 1180 A.D when William De Hartburn (Hartburn near Stockton on Tees), bought the manor of Washington from Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham and changed his name to William De Washington. William became the first member of the family which ultimately gave its name to the capital city of the U.S.A. Washington, District of Columbia therefore acquired its name from Washington County of Durham. It is amusing to speculate that if history had taken a different course, the seat of the American president could perhaps have been called Hartburn D.C.

Washington has borne its name for over 1,000 years. It is mentioned in a Saxon Charter dated A.D. 973.
    The old Parish Church, built mainly in Saxon times, was pulled down and the present building erected in 1832. The old Saxon font is there. In it generations of the Washington family were baptized from l183 to 1376. Look at the list of rectors dating from before 1196.
      At the eastern end of the village green is an ancient red-tiled stable- 200 years ago it was Washington Grammar School; l50 years ago it was a school of navigation; l00 years ago it was Washington Poor- House, a place of misery and starvation.
    The Council Chambers used to be the rectory, which was mostly rebuilt in 1710.
Parts of Washington Old Hall date from 1183, though most of it was rebuilt in 1613.