Penshaw Hill is a hill fort so far missed by archaeology because of a later addition - A mock Greek temple. Because of this little is known about it other than the physical and some limited documentary evidence. Penshaw is the only triple rampart Iron Age hill fort known to exist in the north of England. It has a similar feel to Almondbury, and probably dates from the early to mid Iron Age. To add to the mystique, Penshaw Monument, which is built on top, may have been built using stone taken from a Roman dam at Sunderland.
Plan of the Ramparts and Monument
1864 OS Map entry for 'Painshaw Hill'
The Lost Hill Fort
As a consequence of the building of the monument, as well as previous quarrying on both sides of the hill, most of the earthworks were lost, today only the side closest to the nearby road has visible remains of the hill fort, even these have been assumed to be related to the monument or the quarries and little attention has been paid to the significance of this ancient site. Even the OS map of 1864, published twenty years after the erection of the monument, notes the earthworks simply as 'old quaries'
The first evidence as to the age of the earthworks themselves comes from a surprising source - local myth. Local legend has it that the dragon slept whilst coiled around the hill, which is how the hill got its rings. It's not often that legend plays a part in evidence for the existence of a hillfort but this legend, since it mentions the crusades does at least indicate the both the antiquity of this feature and its appearance prior to the quarries and monument.
The triple ramparts can be clearly seen in the photo above. In the grassed area the ramparts have been flattened and the ditches filled, but these are much better preserved in the tree covered areas to each side.
The main footpath leading to Penshaw Monument rises sharply up the steep side of the hill, it crosses three earth 'steps' which on further investigation are revealed to ramparts of an apparently Iron Age hill fort, each rampart having a ditch behind it. Ramparts such as these, but on a larger scale are preserved at Maiden Castle in Dorset.
Unfortunately although the rampart is highly visible in the woods to either side of the track, on each side they disappear into extensive quarry areas. Until recently this was thought to be all that existed of the ramparts however investigations to the north east of the Monument have revealed that the three banks of the rampart can be seen running between the quarry and the wood to the north. The banks are today only a few inches high and their path through the woods is now obscured.
A further indicator that this is a place of antiquity lies in its name - Pen is a pre-roman name meaning top, hill or head.
View at top of first rampart, clearly the original fort had a considerable rampart, most of which has been eroded to fill the ditches either side.
A Roman Monument?
Opus Revinctum and Lewis holes at Penshaw Monument
More detailed investigation of the Penshaw Monument has revealed startling evidence that the monument itself mat has been created by the demolition of an earlier Roman structure. The strongest evidence is located in the 'debris' stones that lie beside the monument, these seem to be in there original shape and have Roman type 'Opus Revinctum' and Lewis Holes. It is known that this combination of stones features makes these stones highly likely to have been Roman in origin, Opus Revinctum or iron strapping was extensively used with Roman river works and was forgotten as a building method after the decline of the Roman empire.
One of the many Lewis holes in the base of Penshaw Monument
The base of the temple has a great many lewis - holed stones visible, although they have been filled, they indicate that there is a good chance that the base of Penshaw Monument was built from the same stone that was put alongside the monument.
Hylton Roman Dam
The possibility exists that Penshaw was built using stones recovered after the demolition of the Roman Dam at Hylton, Sunderland. It's a possibly tenuous link, but it is known that at the same time as the monument was built by craftsmen based in Sunderland, a large damlike structure across the Wear was being demolished to improve keelboat navigation. In his book 'Chester-le-Street and its place in history' Ray Selkirk makes a significant step in proving the Roman origin of this structure.
Circular anomaly
At the base of the hill, with one of the footpaths running though it is clearly a circular anomaly, about 8m in diameter. Nothing further is known about it but given the sites lineage this feature could well be important.
Picture of the circular anomaly at the foot of Penshaw Hill
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