Penshaw Monument stands on Penshaw Hill, just
outside of Sunderland. At 446ft tall, it is a half-scale replica of the Greek
Temple of Hephaestus. It was built in 1844 and was gifted to the National Trust in 1939. It can be seen for miles
and I’ve often driven past it and wanted to get a closer look.
The Lambton
Worm was said to 'live coiled
around Penshaw Hill, only stirring to terrorise the villagers of Penshaw below'.
Apparently, if you look carefully you can see the marks where the giant worm
once slept.
Hidden in one of the pillars of the monument is a staircase leading to the top. For many years visitors could climb to the top of Penshaw for spectacular views until in 1926, a boy fell to his death from the top of the Monument and the doors to the top were closed. They remained shut for 85 years until the National Trust reopened the stairs in 2011. You can now climb the monument during the summer months, but we had to make do with looking at the giant structure from the bottom. And I don’t think I’ll be brave enough to come back and climb it!
