History of Penshaw Monument

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Penshaw Monument, Sunderland, a Doric temple commemorating the 1st Earl of Durham, Governor-General of Canada — Penshaw Monument, Sunderland | © National Trust Images/John Millar

Visible on the skyline for miles around, Penshaw Monument, Tyne & Wear, stands on the top of Penshaw Hill on the edge of Sunderland. It was built in 1844 to celebrate the life and work of John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham (1792–1840), nicknamed ‘Radical Jack’.

Early history

Penshaw Hill is a prominent landmark which probably had early defensive uses due to its wide views over County Durham. Although quarrying has destroyed evidence of prehistoric activity, a round enclosure on the southern slopes suggests that people were using the hill during the Iron Age.

On 6 March 1644, during the First English Civil War, a small group of Scots cavalrymen used the hill as an encampment. From the hill they watched the retreat of Scottish soldiers pursued by Royalist troops prior to the Battle of Boldon Hill.

The 1st Earl of Durham and the Reform Bill

John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham (1792–1840) was elected Member of Parliament for County Durham in 1813 when he was 21 years of age. Although his political career was affected by ill-health and depression, Lambton rose to become Lord Privy Seal in the government of Earl Grey who was Prime Minister between 1830–4. His political beliefs earned him the nickname ‘Radical Jack’.

As Lord Privy Seal, Lambton drafted a bill to reform the way individuals were represented during democratic elections. Working with a group of other politicians, he drafted the Reform Bill (The Representation of the People Act), which was passed into law in 1832. This bill increased the number of people who could vote in elections by more than 50%. However, it still limited voting rights to one in five adult men. It also removed many ‘rotten boroughs’ – places where the election of the MP was decided by a small number of voters.

The 1st Earl of Durham and the British Empire

Lambton was one of the founding members of the New Zealand Company and served as director from 1825. The Company promoted the colonisation of New Zealand and the removal of Māori communities from much of southern New Zealand. Although they were not successful in all their aims, many of the company’s settlements are important urban centres today, including Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin.

In 1838, Lambton became Governor-in-Chief and Lord High Commissioner of Canada. At the time, most of the land that is now Canada was home to diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, who had lived there for generations. In the east, two British colonies were established in 1791 - Upper and Lower Canada. Upper Canada had a large population of English-speaking people who had fled the United States of America following the American War of Independence. Lower Canada was largely populated by French-speaking Catholics.

In 1837, just before Lambton’s arrival, there was unrest in both colonies due to political and economic reasons. The British military response was harsh and many of the ringleaders of the protest fled to the United States or France. Lambton’s answer was to unite Upper and Lower Canada into a single colony. This excluded the Indigenous peoples and reduced the power and influence of the French-speaking population. He remains an unpopular figure in some communities in Canada to this day.

View of a large grey columned building at dusk with some wooden steps going up to it. — Wide angle view of Penshaw Monument, Tyne & Wear | © National Trust Images/Rob Coleman

Designing the monument

After his return from Canada in 1838, Lambton’s health worsened, and he died of tuberculosis on the 28 July 1840. His constituents and political supporters wanted to build a monument to celebrate his achievements and to act as an encouragement to others. They began a campaign to raise money, both locally and nationally, raising a total of £6000.

They decided on Penshaw (or Penshur) Hill as the site for the monument, as it is the tallest and most visible hill in County Durham. Supporters gave their views about what the monument should look like at meetings held in Newcastle. Initially, there was a competition to design the monument, and seven architects submitted their designs. However, the first approved design was unpopular. As a result, John and Benjamin Green, father-and-son architects from Newcastle, were appointed to design the monument.

The Greens were inspired by another submitted design based on a Greek temple - the Temple of Hephaestus, built between 450 and 440 BC in Athens. The original proposal was for a single column, but the Greens designed an entire temple. The result is Penshaw Monument, smaller than the original Greek temple, with four Doric columns across the front and seven at the side.

Building the monument

The Marquess of Londonderry, who owned quarries in County Durham, donated the stone for the monument. The sand and lime came from quarries and lime kilns on the Earl of Durham’s own estate. A local Sunderland builder, Thomas Pratt, was commissioned to build the monument and a special tramway was constructed to move the building materials to the top of the hill. At the time it was called ‘The Earl of Durham’s Monument’.

On Wednesday, 28 August 1844, Thomas, Earl of Zetland, Grandmaster of Freemasons, laid the foundation stone. The ceremony was attended by 400 members of the Provincial Grand Lodges of Freemasons and about 30,000 others.

The National Trust

In 1950, the 4th Earl of Durham gave the monument to the National Trust. By the 1970s, the monument had become unstable. The ground around it was subsiding, partly due to mining in the area. The entire building had to be dismantled and rebuilt to stabilise it, a project which was completed in 1979.

Penshaw Monument today

Today Penshaw Monument remains as prominent as it always was and can still be seen for miles around. Many see Penshaw Monument as a symbol of the North East of England.

In 1996, Sunderland Association Football Club unveiled their new crest, which includes a silhouette of Penshaw Monument. This was to celebrate the club’s supporters who came from outside the city, especially from County Durham. Since 1988, Sunderland City Council regularly illuminates the monument at night in different colours to mark special occasions.