Penshaw Monument

Penshaw Monument
Penshaw Monument, from Herrington Country Park
Location within Tyne and Wear
Alternative names	The Earl of Durham's Monument
General information
Type	Folly
Architectural style	Doric tetrastyle
Town or city	Penshaw, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Country	England
Coordinates	54°52′59″N 1°28′52″W / 54.883°N 1.481°W / 54.883; -1.481
Elevation	136 m (446 ft)
Construction started	28 August 1844
Renovated	1978–1979
Cost	£6,000
Client	Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry
Owner	National Trust
Management	National Trust
Height	20 m (66 ft)
Design and construction
Architect	John and Benjamin Green
Engineer	Thomas Pratt, Sunderland

Penshaw Monument (/ˈpɛnʃə/), officially The Earl of Durham's Monument,^[1] is a folly built in 1844 on Penshaw Hill between the districts of Washington and Houghton-le-Spring, within the City of Sunderland, North East England. It is dedicated to John Lambton (1792–1840), 1st Earl of Durham and the first Governor of the Province of Canada.

Location

The 136-metre (446 ft) hill on which the monument stands was presented by Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. The monument dominates the local landscape as a half-sized replica of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens.^[2] It is floodlit at night.^[3]

Toponymy

Although often called "Penshaw Monument", the correct title of the structure is The Earl of Durham's Monument.^[4]

The monument stands on Penshaw Hill, the name of which is derived from a mixture of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon words. Pen is a Brythonic or Cumbric word for hill, as in the name Penrith; shaw is derived from sceaga meaning "wooded area"; and finally the Old/Middle/Modern English word "hill". The name thus means "wooded-hill hill".

Construction

The Doric tetrastyle monument is 30 metres (98 ft) long, 16 metres (52 ft) wide and 20 metres (66 ft) high. The columns are each 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in diameter. It was designed by John and Benjamin Green and built by Thomas Pratt of Sunderland, based on the Doric order.

Resting on the columns is the entablature which itself can be split into three main parts. The architrave, the main spanning beam across the tops of the pillars. Above the architrave is the frieze, the central patterned section. Then the cornice is the upper part which projects outwards. Finally, the pediments are the triangular facings at each end of the Monument. One of the pillars contains a spiral staircase to a walkway around the top of the monument.

The Monument is made of gritstone from the Marquess of Londonderry's quarries on the east coast. Steel pins and brackets were used to hold the stone blocks in place.

History

Penshaw Monument

The foundation stone was laid by Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland (the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England) on 28 August 1844, four years after the death of John Lambton.

On Easter Monday 1926 a 15-year-old boy, Temperley Arthur Scott, fell to his death from the top of Penshaw Monument. The boy was with three friends and 20 other people when the accident happened. They had reached the roof via the spiral staircase in one of the pillars. Witnesses said that the boys went round the roof walkway twice before deciding to make a third circuit. However Scott fell trying to avoid the other visitors by passing around an open end where there was no protecting wall. Afterwards the spiral staircase to the roof was closed and remained so until a special opening on 29 August 2011, when the public were granted access to the spiral staircase and views from the top of the monument. This was an initial test to see if it was popular enough to open again for future one-off days. The National Trust did not take bookings, the public simply turned up on the day. It was so popular (more than 2,000 people) that not all those who turned up were able to go to the top of the monument and many were forced to leave their contact details to be given priority on the next open days.^[5] Access to the top is now available every weekend between Good Friday and the end of September. Bookings are taken via the National Trust website. The cost is £5 per person or free to National Trust members.

The monument from the closed walkway

In September 1939 John Lambton, 5th Earl of Durham gave Penshaw Monument to the National Trust.

Owing to settlement as a result of mining beneath the hill, Penshaw Monument was underpinned in 1978. The next year the entire western end was dismantled block by block in order that damaged lintels could be replaced by new reinforced concrete ones.

In 1983, local punk rock band Toy Dolls filmed the music video for their single "Dig That Groove Baby", taken from the album of the same name, inside the monument.

Penshaw Monument features on the club badge of Sunderland A.F.C.

Placard

It was acquired by the National Trust as a gift from the 5th Earl of Durham in 1939.^[6] A placard was placed on the front of the monument to recognise this.

The placard reads:

THIS STONE WAS LAID BY
THOMAS, EARL OF ZETLAND
GRAND MASTER OF THE FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF ENGLAND
ASSISTED BY
THE BRETHREN OF THE PROVINCES OF DURHAM AND NORTHUMBERLAND
ON THE 28TH AUGUST 1844
BEING THE FOUNDATION STONE OF A MEMORIAL TO BE ERECTED
TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN GEORGE EARL OF DURHAM
WHO
AFTER REPRESENTING THE COUNTY OF DURHAM IN PARLIAMENT
FOR FIFTEEN YEARS
WAS RAISED TO THE PEERAGE
AND SUBSEQUENTLY HELD THE OFFICES OF
LORD PRIVY SEAL, AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND
MINISTER AT THE COURT OF ST. PETERSBURG AND
GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA.
HE DIED ON THE 28TH OF JULY 1840 IN THE 49TH YEAR OF HIS AGE
THE MONUMENT WILL BE ERECTED
BY THE PRIVATE SUBSCRIPTIONS OF HIS FELLOW COUNTRYMEN
ADMIRERS OF HIS DISTINGUISHED TALENTS AND
EXAMPLARY PRIVATE VIRTUES.

DONATED TO THE NATIONAL TRUST ON 1ST SEPTEMBER 1939

External links

Archived July 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. History of the site
View 1: Penshaw Monument – Interactive 360° inside
View 2: Penshaw Monument – Interactive 360° outside
Detailed information about the structure and the boy's death
Penshaw Monument at Houghton Heritage Society, featuring old photographs and information about the Monument's viewing platform

References

City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear

Education	Academy 360 Argyle House School Biddick Academy Castle View Enterprise Academy ESPA College Farringdon Community Academy Grindon Hall Christian School Hetton School Kepier School Monkwearmouth Academy Oxclose Community Academy Red House Academy St Aidan's Catholic Academy St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy St Robert of Newminster Catholic School Sandhill View Academy Southmoor Academy Sunderland College Sunderland High School Thornhill School University of Sunderland Venerable Bede Church of England Academy Washington School

Places of interest	Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens Stadium of Light Penshaw Monument National Glass Centre Sunderland Empire Theatre St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth Sunderland International Airshow Washington Old Hall Monkwearmouth Station Museum Sunderland Aquatic Centre The Bridges WWT Washington Keel Square New Wear Bridge

Local media	Sunderland Echo Sun FM Spark FM

Twinned places	Essen Saint-Nazaire Washington, D.C. Harbin

Sport	Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Ladies

Listed buildings in the City of Sunderland

Grade I

Sunderland	Holy Trinity Church Hylton Castle & Chapel Phoenix Lodge St Andrew's Church St Peter's Church

Washington	Washington Old Hall

Houghton-le-Spring	Penshaw Monument St Michael and All Angels Church

Grade II*

Sunderland	Doxford House Fulwell Acoustic Mirror Fulwell Mill Sunderland Minster Monkwearmouth Station Museum Old South Pier Ryhope Pumping Station & Chimney St George's Church Empire Theatre 11 Church Street East

Houghton-le-Spring	Houghton Hall Houghton Rectory Kepier School Victoria Viaduct

Grade II

Sunderland

City Centre	Sunderland Museum St Mary's Church Mowbray Almshouses Sunderland County Court Corder House and Sydenham House Elephant Tea Rooms Green's Public House The Isis Sunderland Gas Board Galen Building Fitzgerald's Public House Wearmouth Bridge River Wear Commission Building St Mary's Building Wearmouth Rail Bridge Sunderland Magistrates' Court Hawksley House Victoria Hall Disaster Memorial Sunderland War Memorial Burdon Road Masonic Temple 4–25 Foyle Street 28–40 and 43–48 West Sunnside Medieval Arch & Wall Central Buildings Former General Post Office Former Custom House Maritime Buildings 19, 20, 29 and 30 Villiers Street West Park Church 17–29, 32–42 & 45–58 Frederick Street Mowbray Park (certain buildings) Midland Bank National Westminster Bank Barclays Bank Lloyds Bank 11–17, 20–23 25–28 and 45–58 John Street 2 & 3 Mary Street 3–5 Albion Place 19 & 31–33 Norfolk Street 3 & 22 Athenaeum Street Hutchinson's Buildings The Londonderry The Dun Cow 1–7, 105–112, 114–118, 145, 170–173, 176, 211, 212 and 214–217 High Street West 49–51 High Street East

Monkwearmouth and Southwick	Monkwearmouth Library Monkwearmouth College Wheatsheaf Hotel North East Railway Stables Holy Trinity Church St Columba's Church Hebron Church 6 Back North Bridge Street 57 and 58 Barclay Street Southwick Limekilns The Tramcar Inn Thompson Memorial Southwick War Memorial 65–95 James Armitage Street All Saints' Church

Ryhope and Burdon	Railway Inn Ryhope Grange Farmhouse St Paul's Church The Chestnuts and The Wilderness Burdon Hall The Railway Inn 14 Cliff Road Ryhope War Memorial Coqueda Hall Ryhope Rent Office Ryhope Pumping Station

Ashbrooke and Thornholme	Bede Tower Sunderland Synagogue Christ Church West Hendon House St John's Church Carlton House Langham Tower Ashburne House The Crofts Gray House St George's House 3–7 Douro Terrace Valebrooke Gardens Westburn House 1–29 Thornhill Terrace 1–15 Grange Crescent 1–9 The Esplanade Burdon House 1–16 St Bede's Terrace 1–24 Park Place East and West Park Road Methodist Church

Hendon and Grangetown	Hendon Gas Works Quayside Exchange St Aidan's Church Trafalgar Square Merchant Seaman's Almshouses St Ignatius Church Tavistock House Sunderland Orphanage 10 Church Street East Salisbury Street Steps Sunderland Cemetery (certain buildings) Former Methodist Manse Bethesda Free Church 17–23 Murton Street 3–19 Ridley Terrace North Dock (walls and mooring posts) Hudson Dock (certain buildings) Sunderland Harbour South Pier Whylam Wharf Bonded Warehouse

Barnes and Humbledon	Barnes School St Gabriel's Church Kayll Road Library Children's Hospital Humbledon Pumping Station Hill House Bishopwearmouth Cemetery (certain buildings) Barnes Park Bandstand

Deptford, Millfield and Pallion	The Mountain Daisy Public House St Joseph's Church Queen Alexandra Bridge St Mark's Church St Luke's Church Laing Fountain Webster's Ropery

Silksworth and Tunstall	Silksworth Hall Tunstall Lodge Silksworth Cottage Tunstall School Tunstall Hope Lodge

North Hylton and South Hylton	The Shipwrights South Hylton War Memorial The Golden Lion Hylton House 41 & 42 High Street St Mary's Church

Fulwell, Roker and Whitburn Bents	Fulwell Pumping Station The Bents Mere Knolls Cemetery (certain buildings) Roker Park Bandstand Roker Park Drinking Fountain Roker Pier & Lighthouse Andover Fulwell Limekilns 160, 162 & 164 Newcastle Road

Middle and East Herrington	Crow Lane Farmhouse Greystones Ivy House

Washington

Blue House Villa
'F' Pit
The Old Hall Smithy
Low Barmston Farmhouse
Red Hill House
Usworth Hall
Fatfield House
Our Blessed Lady Immaculate Church, Washington

Certain buildings in/on: Peareth Hall Road
The Avenue

Houghton-le-Spring

Houghton-le-Spring	Davenport and Lilburne Almshouses Lilburn House Gilpin House The Villa The Rectory St Michael's Church The Old Mill Laburnum House Houghton Mines Rescue Station High Farm House St Cuthbert's Church Stoneygate Pumping Station Philadelphia Power Station Certain buildings in/on: Nesham Place Front Street, Newbottle Philadelphia Lane

Hetton-le-Hole	St Nicholas' Church, Hetton-le-Hole St Nicholas House Easington Lane War Memorial Pithead Baths Smithy Primitive Methodist Church

Newbottle	Russell House Newbottle Working Men's Club St Matthew's Church, Newbottle Cellar Hill House

Penshaw	All Saints' Church Penshaw House Alice Well Accommodation Arch Boundary Stone

Coordinates: 54°52′59″N 1°28′51″W / 54.8831°N 1.48087°W / 54.8831; -1.48087

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