Traditional management for hay production followed by winter grazing has maintained a herb-rich sward and supports the common blue and meadow brown butterflies.

It was consecrated on 15 February 1821 by Thomas Burgess, the Bishop of St Davids, and the chapelry district was formed in 1844 as a perpetual curacy.

[10][11][12] One of the four public houses (including a working men's club) in the area is The Golden Lion, situated near the river bank.

On 16 August 1924 the village war memorial was unveiled by Major John Rodham Wigham of Ford Villa, who donated the site.

South Hylton formerly had a resident bus company, W. H. Jolly, which ran frequent services from the village into Sunderland town centre.

The dominance of Stagecoach which also ran a similar route, coupled with the announcement of the upcoming Tyne & Wear Metro extension to South Hylton, caused the company to close in 1995.

The route was restored in part, via another company, by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (Nexus) in December 2008.