Wikipedia
Houghton-le-Spring is a town in North East England, which has its recorded origins in Norman times. It lies in the local government district of the City of Sunderland, administratively in Tyne and Wear, and in the historic county of County Durham. It is situated almost equidistant between the cathedral city of Durham southwest and Sunderland about northeast. The town of Seaham and the North Sea lie about directly east. The villages and towns of Newbottle, Fencehouses and Hetton-le-Hole lie nearby. It has a population of 36,746.
Other villages within the Houghton-le-Spring postal district include: Philadelphia, Shiney Row, Chilton Moor and Woodstone Village.
The A690 road from Durham to Sunderland meets the A182 in Houghton at an unusual interchange. Heading northeast, slip roads leave the A690, heading up to a roundabout, while the A690 climbs and travels above a second roundabout, before the entry slip joins the A690 itself.
Houghton-le-Spring was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983.
Centred on the town of Houghton-le-Spring in the City of Sunderland, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. It was abolished in 1983, and replaced by the new constituency of Houghton and Washington.