Harraton was a township in Chester-le-Street parish, and a sub-district in Chester-le-Street registration district, Durham. Since 1974 it is located in the Borough of Sunderland in the county of Tyne and Wear. The township lies on the river Wear, and on the North-eastern railway; now a cyclist route/footpath, 3 miles north-east of Chester-le-Street; includes the villages of Chaters-Hough, Fatfield, and Pictree; and forms part of the chapelry of Birtley. The soil and subsoil are clay. The chief crops are wheat, oats and turnips. A considerable portion of Lambton Park, the seat of the Earl of Durham, and the castle and gardens, being on the north side of the river Wear, are in the township of Harraton, but for particulars see Lambton Castle.