Penshaw Monument

Penshaw Monument
A monument in the form of a Greek temple on a hill
The monument
LocationPenshaw, Sunderland, England
Coordinates54°52′59″N 1°28′51″W / 54.8831°N 1.48087°W / 54.8831; -1.48087
Elevation136 m (446 ft)
Height21 m (70 ft)
Built1844–1845[a]
ArchitectJohn and Benjamin Green
OwnerNational Trust
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameEarl of Durham's Monument
Designated26 April 1950
Reference no.1354965
Penshaw Monument is located in Tyne and Wear
Penshaw Monument
Location of Penshaw Monument in Tyne and Wear
Penshaw Monument is located in Sunderland
Penshaw Monument
Penshaw Monument (Sunderland)
Penshaw Monument is located in England
Penshaw Monument
Penshaw Monument (England)

The Penshaw Monument (officially the Earl of Durham's Monument) is a memorial in the style of an ancient Greek temple on Penshaw Hill in the metropolitan borough of the City of Sunderland, North East England. It is located near the village of Penshaw, between the towns of Washington and Houghton-le-Spring in historic County Durham. The monument was built between 1844 and 1845[a] to commemorate John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham (1792–1840), Governor-General of British North America and author of the Durham Report on the future governance of the American territories. Owned by the National Trust since 1939, it is a Grade I listed structure.

The monument was designed by John and Benjamin Green and built by Thomas Pratt of Bishopwearmouth using local gritstone at a cost of around £6000; the money was raised by subscription. On 28 August 1844, while it was partially complete, its foundation stone was laid by Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland in a Masonic ceremony which drew tens of thousands of spectators. Based on the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, it is a tetrastyle temple of the Doric order, with eighteen columns—seven along its longer sides and four along its shorter ones—and no roof or cella (inner chamber).

One column contains a spiral staircase leading to a parapeted walkway along the entablature. This staircase was closed to the public in 1926 after a 15-year-old boy fell to his death from the top of the monument. The structure fell into disrepair in the 1930s and was fenced off, then repaired in 1939. It has since undergone further restoration, including extensive work in 1979 during which its western side was dismantled. Floodlit at night since 1988, it is often illuminated in different colours to mark special occasions. The National Trust began to offer supervised tours of the walkway in 2011.

Penshaw Monument is a local landmark, visible from up to 80 kilometres (50 mi) away. It appears on the crest of Sunderland A.F.C. and is viewed nationally as a symbol of the North East. It has been praised for the grandeur, simplicity and symbolic significance of its design, especially when seen from a distance. However, critics have said it is poorly constructed and lacks purpose; nineteenth-century architectural journals condemned its lack of a roof and the hollowness of its columns and walls. It features no depiction of the man it honours, and has been widely described as a folly.

  1. ^ Pevsner & Williamson 1983, p. 44.
  2. ^ Middleton 2010, p. 4.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Earl of Durham's Monument (Grade I) (1354965)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Leaves from a Note-Book: No. IV". Carlisle Journal. 12 October 1844. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).