Welcome
Donnison School Heritage and Education Centre
The Donnison School was established in 1798 to educate 36 ‘poor girls’ from Sunderland Parish. Progressive at the time, the goal was to provide the girls with a basic education, suitable clothing and practical skills for the home and the community. The schoolmistress’s house was added thirty years later in 1827, evidence of the growing need in the parish. This early educational provision was an investment in the welfare of working class girls, made possible by wealthy benefactor Elizabeth Donnison and later Elizabeth Woodcock.
The Donnison School Heritage Centre is now a thriving Community Hub of heritage, education and community activities. This restored Georgian school, provides opportunities for community engagement through an annual programme of activities, events and community outreach. Volunteers through The Friends of The Donnison School support and maintain this Grade II listed building. The building was restored and re-opened as a new community facility in 2007 and has become an important heritage asset for the people of Sunderland and across the region.
This important heritage restoration was supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Sunderland Council, Back on the Map and Tyne and Wear Community Fund.
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Meet some of our local Heroes and Villians
The Donnison School Heritage and Education Centre offer guided Heroes and Villains tours around the East End of Sunderland. You will meet the various characters that used to live and work in these streets and alleys. Meet two of those infamous characters below...
