Penshaw Hill

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

 

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. 

Where it all began - The Lambton Worm and Penshaw Hill

Around the time of the crusades (in some accounts) in the area around the river Wear, there is a tale told about a fearsome dragon, which terrorised the area and was dispatched with cunning by a brave warrior.
John Lambton, the young heir to Lambton Hall, was fishing on the river Wear one Sunday morning, while all the other villagers and castle residents were at mass in Brugeford Chapel. After a couple of hours of catching nothing, his hook was caught by something powerful and quick, thinking that he had hooked a great fish he set about landing the catch. He toiled for what seemed an age, and finally pulled his prize on the sandy bank.
He had caught a black worm like creature, which was only small, but twisted and coiled with great power. In appearance the creature was completely black, with the head of a salamander and needle sharp teeth. It seemed to secrete a sticky slime, and had nine holes along each side of its mouth. Cursing, he wondered what to do with the creature when an old man appeared from behind him, he asked the young Lambton what he had caught, and looking at the creature the old man crossed himself. He warned Lambton not to throw the creature back into the river. "It bodes no good for you but you must not cast it back into the river, you must keep it and do with it what you will." At this the old man walked away disappearing as quickly as he had appeared.
John Lambton picked up the creature and put it into his catch basket, walking home he mulled over the stranger's words and looked again at the hideous thing lying in his basket. A feeling of unease swept over him and he threw the catch into an ancient well on the road back to the hall (the well was forever after known as Worms Well).
The years passed and John Lambton went off to the crusades, with every passing year the worm grew in strength in its deep dark hole. The well became unusable as the water became poisoned, strange venomous vapours were seen rising out of the well, and village gossip surmised that the well had been cursed, and that something unworldly lived in its depths. One morning the village gossip was answered, during the night the worm, now in full maturity, had slipped out of the well and wrapped itself three times around a rocky island in the middle of the river, a trail of black slime outlined its path from the well.
The morning was a hive of activity as the news spread throughout the village and to neighbouring farms. Those brave enough went as close as they dared to get a glimpse of the creature. The dragon had no legs or wings, but a thick muscled body that rippled as it moved. Its head was large and its gaping maw bristled with razor sharp teeth, venomous vapours trailed from its nostrils and mouth as it breathed.
For a short time the dragon did nothing, during the day it stayed in mid stream and at night it came back to land and coiled itself three times around a nearby hill, leaving spiral patterns in the soft earth. This lull was short lived, for soon the beast became hungry and started to rampage around the countryside, always returning to its hill or Worms Rock in the river Wear. Depending on the account, the hill the worm returned to was either Penshaw Hill or, the aptly named Worm Hill in nearby Fatfield.
It took small lambs and sheep and ate them whole, and it tore open cows udders with its razor teeth to get at the milk, which it could smell from miles away.
The dragon became bolder and bolder, some brave villagers tried to kill the beast but where crushed and drowned in the river, or torn to pieces with its razor fangs.
Eventually the dragon came to Lambton Hall, where the lord lived on his own. Fortunately the local residents rallied at the hall, and were ready for its coming. They filled a large stone trough with warm milk from the nine kye of the byre. The dragon came to the hall gates but was distracted by the smell of the milk. It plunged into the trough and drained it dry, thus sated the dragon returned to its river abode.
Thus began a ritual that was not to be abated for seven years. The dragon stopped its roaming in the village and left the cows and the sheep alone. It only ventured up the lane to the hall for its daily offering of milk. As the years passed the trail became marked by a path of dark slime and the villagers returned to the village in some semblance of normality. Every so often people from far and wide would come to kill the dragon but would always meet the same fate as those early villagers.
After seven years had passed, John Lambton returned from the crusades a powerful and seasoned knight. When he heard of the plight of his village he devised plan to kill the beast. He went to the wise woman who lived in Brugeford to gain her advice. She told him that the plight of the village was his fault and that it was his duty to remedy the situation: You and you alone can kill the worm, go to the blacksmith, and have a suit of armour wrought with razor sharp spear heads studded throughout its surface. Then go to the worm's rock and await its arrival. But mark my words well, if you slay the beast you must put to death the first thing that crosses your path as you pass the threshold of Lambton Hall. If you do not do this then three times three generations of Lambtons will not die in their beds.
John listened to the advice and swore an oath to complete it. He then went to the local blacksmith and had him forge a suit of armour embedded in double-edged spikes, and spent the night in the local chapel.
During the next day John Lambton, clad in the specially made armour engaged in battle with the dragon in midstream. Every time the dragon tried to embrace him it cut itself to ribbons on the spikes, so that pieces of its flesh were sliced off and floated down the river on a crimson tide. Eventually the worm grew so weak that he could despatch it with one heavy sword blow to its head.
He then let out three blasts on his bugle to tell of his victory, and as a signal for the servants to release his favourite hound from the house to complete his vow. Unfortunately the servants forgot in the commotion and joy, and as John passed over the threshold of the hall his father rushed out to greet him. Dismayed John blew another blast on his horn and the servants released the hound, which John killed with one sweeping blow from his sword. But it was too late, the vow was broken and for generations after none of the Lambtons died in their beds. It is said that the last one died while crossing over Brugeford Bridge over a hundred and forty years ago.

Penshaw Hill
One of the hills the worm is said to have frequented is actually the site of the only triple rampart, Iron Age hill fort known in the North of England. The spiral patterns or furrows suggested by the legend as being formed by the worm coiling itself thrice around the hill, could in fact be the triple ramparts of the hill fort. The hill is also known for the prominent landmark of Penhsaw Monument, a folly based on a Greek temple.

The Lambton Worm - Traditional Folksong Based on the Legend
One Sunday morn young Lambton
Went a-fishin' in the Wear;
He catched a fish upon his heuk,
He thowt leuk't varry queer,
But whatt'na kind of fish it was
Young Lambton couldna tell.
He waddna fash to carry hyem,
So he hoyed it in a well.
Chorus:
Whisht! lads, haad ya gobs,
Aa'll tell ye aall an aaful story,
Whisht! lads, haad ya gobs,
An aa'll tell ye ‘boot the worm.
Noo Lambton felt inclined to gan
An' fight in foreign wars.
He joined a troop o' Knights
That cared for neither wounds nor scars,
An' off he went to Palestine
Where queer things befel,
An' varry seun forgot aboot
The queer worm in the well.
(Chorus)
But the worm got fat an' graad an' graad,
An' graad an aaful size;
With greet big teeth, and greet big mooth,
An' greet big goggley eyes.
An' when at neets he craaled ‘oot
To pick up bits o' news,
If he felt dry upon the road,
He milked a dozen coos.
(Chorus)
This feorful worm wad often feed
On calves an' lambs an' sheep
An' swally little bairns alive
When they laid doon to sleep.
An' when he'd eaten aall he cud
An' he had had his fill,
He craaled away an' lapped his tail
Seven times roond Pensher Hill.
(Chorus)
The news of this most aaful worm
An' his queer gannins on,
Seun crossed the seas, gat to the ears
Of brave an' bowld Sir John.
So hyem he cam an' catched the beast
An' cut ‘im in three halves,
An' that seun stopped him eatin' bairns
An' sheep an' lambs and calves.
(Chorus)
So noo ye knaa hoo aall the folks
On byeth sides of the Wear
Lost lots o' sheep an' lots o' sleep
An' lived in mortal feor.
So let's hev one to brave Sir John
That kept the bairns frae harm,
Saved coos an' calves by myekin' halves
O' the famis Lambton Worm.
(Final Chorus)
Noo lads, Aa'll haad me gob,
That's aall Aa knaa aboot the story
Of Sir John's clivvor job
Wi' the aaful Lambton Worm.