Penshaw

A monument to 'Radical Jack'

Standing on Penshaw Hill between Washington and Houghton-le-Spring, Penshaw Monument was built in 1844–45 in memory of John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, a local landowner nicknamed "Radical Jack" for his role, alongside his father-in-law Earl Grey, in drafting the great Reform Act of 1832. Lambton went on to become Governor-General of British North America, and his influential 1839 report on colonial government helped set Canada on the path to self-rule.

Built by public subscription

Designed by architects John and Benjamin Green — the same partnership behind Newcastle's Grey's Monument — as a half-size copy of the ancient Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, the monument was funded by public subscription and built from stone donated, a little ironically, by a rival coal-owning family, the Marquess of Londonderry. Its foundation stone was laid in front of a reported 15,000 to 20,000 spectators in August 1844.

A landmark for the whole county

At 21 metres tall on a hill that already stands 136 metres above sea level, Penshaw Monument is visible from huge stretches of Tyne and Wear and County Durham — from Tynemouth to the Pennines on a clear day — and has been a Sunderland icon for so long that it appears on the crest of Sunderland AFC. Owned by the National Trust since 1939 and floodlit at night, it can be climbed on selected days each summer.