Penshaw Monument: The Greek Temple of North East England
It’s taken me 7 years of regularly visiting the North East of England to finally visit Penshaw Monument. It’s situated high on a hill overlooking the city of Sunderland in the county of Tyne & Wear.
From my usual base in Hartlepool where I have family, I regularly explore County Durham. I’ve seen Penshaw Monument from afar many times but only recently made it across the county border and walked up Penshaw Hill to see it up close.
The Penshaw Hill woods and monument are managed by the National Trust. They were gifted to the charity in 1939 by the 5th Earl of Durham. I had my dog Roger with me who loved exploring the hill and surrounding woodlands. He seemed just as intrigued and impressed by the monument as Mr TJG and I were. You really don’t realise just how big it is till you get up close and personal.
Built 20m high and looking just like a Greek temple, the monument is an amazing feat of engineering and commands superb 360 degree views over Tyne & Wear and County Durham, especially on a day blessed with beautiful sun and clear skies like we had the day we visited. Visibility was excellent. On a really clear day you can see as far as the Cheviot Hills 50 miles away.
The Architectural Style of Penshaw Monument
Penshaw Monument is in fact a half size replica of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens which was built in 415 BC. Penshaw was built in 1844 however and the structure is 30m long by 16m wide. It is supported by 2m wide columns. Hundreds of tonnes of gritstone were used in the construction. The gritstone came from the Marquess of Londonderry’s quarry in Seaham on the North East coast.
The monument adopts a Doric tetrastyle design which means that the temple has a four column wide portico end (where you would find the entrance to a temple) designed using the Doric order of ancient Greek architecture design. The Doric order is the most simple of the three Greek architectural orders and is most easily recognised in the column style. At Penshaw, smooth round columns drop straight to the temple floor with no ornamental base. They are crowned by simple circular capitals under a square cushion. These support a plain architrave (the main horizontal beam) and pediment (the triangular gable end). In later orders these features would be lavishly decorated and contain sculpture. It has been suggested that the monument is ‘unfinished’ as it does not contain a roof, but by all accounts it was never intended to have one.
Standing at the base of the columns it’s hard to imagine a temple twice the size, as this in itself is huge. No wonder it dominates the landscape and can be seen from miles around. I would love to see the one it is modelled on in Athens some day.
Penshaw Monument: The Folly
Despite its resemblance to a Greek temple, Penshaw Monument is only a folly. This is the term given to decorative buildings that don’t serve a practical purpose even if they look like they should and the English are well known for constructing them. They are often rather grandiose and flashy in design and Penshaw Monument certainly fits this mould. It never fulfilled any purpose that its temple-like appearance suggests it should have done.
Quite how a Hellenic monument came to be built in this sleepy corner of the North East is anyone’s guess and there are many myths and legends relating to its construction. At the time of building, Greek revival architecture was very popular though, which probably accounts for its appearance.
Penshaw Monument is officially the Earl of Durham’s Monument and was dedicated to John George Lambton, the first Earl of Durham and the first Governor of the Province of Canada. It was built as a memorial to his work on the Durham report of 1838 which provided direction for how the British Empire should manage its oversees colonies. It recommended complete self governance for advanced colonies (namely Canada to begin with) and became one of the most important documents in British Government because it formulated the new relationship going forward between London and its colonies.
The monument was designed by John and Benjamin Green, a father/son partnership who were also responsible for other prominent north east landmarks such as Newcastle’s Theatre Royal and the column of Grey’s Monument, also in Newcastle.
Visiting Penshaw Monument
If you venture up the A19 towards Newcastle and Gateshead, it’s worth stopping off and wandering up the hill. There’s free parking at the bottom and it doesn’t take long to walk up. It’s well worth the effort even on a hot day.
You can even climb to the top of the monument to a walkway along the southern length. From Easter to the end of September the National Trust opens up the secret staircase inside one of the pillars. You would never know it was there except on days when the door is open thus betraying its existence. There is a guide at the top who will answer any questions about the monument and point out what you can see in each direction.
Only small groups can go up at a time and it costs £5.00 per person or is free to National Trust members. It’s worth noting that it’s only open to adults and suitable clothing and shoes must be worn as it is pitch black inside the staircase and extremely steep and narrow. Head torches must be worn and are provided but these do not help being able to see the steps much as the light doesn’t penetrate far. Ascending and descending is done by feel so be super careful. Mr TJG and I had to go up separately as we obviously couldn’t take Roger up. Remember this if you’ve got a pooch in tow.
The views from the top are astounding however. The extra height means you can see well over the tree line for miles in every direction. For example, the Penshaw Nurseries (to the south) where I recommend going for a drink after your walk, are now fully visible whereas they are mostly obscured by trees at ground level.
Additional Things to Do at Penshaw Monument
You can lengthen your trip to the monument by a walk through Penshaw Woods. The woods sports beautiful wild flowers in spring including a gorgeous bluebell carpet. You’ll encounter a flurry of bird and insect activity in summer and stunning fall colours in autumn.
For a slightly longer walk, you can download a circular route from Penshaw Monument on the ‘See it do it Sunderland’ website. You can also walk to neighbouring Washington Waterfowl Park which is run by the WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust). Here you can see a wide variety of woodland birds, ducks, geese and cranes as well as flamingos and otters. Check out when the Lego Safari came to WWT Washington: such a cool little trail!
Herrington Country Park is also worth a visit and you can see the site to the south from the top of Penshaw Hill. The park was developed on the site of a former colliery and has become an important habitat for scores of different birds. It’s the largest park in Sunderland and home to miles of walks and cycle trails. It’s perfect for walking your dog, though I didn’t have time to try this out with Roger on this occasion. Maybe next time…
For further ideas of other places to visit nearby, have a read about Hartlepool and County Durham. It’s also not far to Newcastle and Gateshead but the nearest city is actually Sunderland out on the coast. Penshaw Monument is considered one of Sunderland’s best loved landmarks. It even appears on the badge of Sunderland Football Club.
Get in Touch!
Have you been up Penshaw Monument or have you just seen it from the road? If it’s the latter, I hope I’ve convinced you to venture up the hill next time round.
Or if you’ve never even heard of the place before now, would you consider visiting? Drop me a line in the comments below and let me know – I’d love to hear from you.
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Further Reading…
If you’re a regular visitor to National Trust sites, you may like to check out the other places I’ve visited:
Beningbrough Hall’s bluebell walk
Dolaucothi Gold Mine: Carmarthenshire
Mwnt Beach & Coastline: Ceredigion
The 8 Treasures of Little Moreton Hall: Cheshire
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sophie pearce | 5th Aug 18
Loved this post! There’s a monument similar to this in Edinburgh! They’re so beautiful to visit. Will put this gem on my list 🙂 Sophie x
Tilly Horseman | 5th Aug 18
Glad you enjoyed it. What’s the monument in Edinburgh? I’ve not yet been to Edinburgh though hoping to get there early next year…Somehow the city has always eluded me!