Penshaw Monument

The monument was built in 1844 in honour of John George Lambton, the first Earl of Durham.

The Monument stands 136 metres above sea level. It was designed to be a copy of the Theseion, the Temple of Hephaestus, in Athens. It has also been linked with the Temple of Diana at Ephesus. It is built twice the size of the original. It was designed by Newcastle architects, John and Benjamin Green and built by Thomas Pratt of Sunderland. The Monument is the best preserved model of a Doric Hexastyle temple in Britain. The Marquess of Londonderry presented Penshaw Hill as a suitable site.

The foundation stone was laid by the Marquess of Zetland on 28th August 1844, four years after the death of the Earl. An inscription which has since been erased read as follows:

This stone was laid by Thomas, Earl of Zetland, Grandmaster of the Free and Accepted Masons of England, assisted by the Brethren of the Provinces of Durham and Northumberland, on August 28th 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 15 years was raised to the Peerage, and subsequently held the offices of Lord Privy Seal, Ambassador-Extraordinary and Minister of the Court of Petersburg and Governor-General of Canada. He died July 28th 1840, in the 49th year of his age. This monument will be erected by the private subscriptions of his fellow countrymen, admirers of his distinguished talents and exemplary private virtues.

The structure consists of four major parts. The stylobate is the base and foundation that supports the rest of the structure. The smooth columns, of which there are eighteen in a four by seven arrangement, are known as Doric columns. This was the first and oldest order of Greek architecture characterised by massive columns without ornament at the base or top. The columns are solid except one which contains a spiral staircase providing access to the upper walkways. This was originally open to the public but was permanently closed after a fifteen year old boy fell to his death.

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.
              
It is 100 feet (30 metres) long, 53 feet (16 metres) wide and 70 feet (20 metres) high. The columns are each 6 feet and 6 inches (2 metres) in diameter.