Penshaw Monument is built on Penshaw hill and can be seen
for miles around. It was built in 1844 in honour of John George Lambton, the first Earl of Durham
and the first Governor of Canada for "distinguished services rendered to his country"
"Radical Jack" Lambton was heavily involved in the passing of the Great Reform Act of 1832.
He also wrote the Durham Report on Canada (1839).
This is traditionally seen as the foundation document of the modern commonwealth.
The monument is in the form of a Greek temple, the Temple of Theseus. It is 100 feet long,
53 feet wide and 70 feet high. It has 18 columns which are 6 feet 6 inches thick.
George Elliott was born in Penshaw in 1815, the son of a pit man. He left school at nine to work in Washington Colliery, later he studied at night school
and progressed to become manager of Washington Colliery. He became owner of Oxclose , Biddick and Penshaw pits as well as pits in South Wales.
He persuaded the prime minister, Disraeli to buy shares in the Suez Canal. This gave Great Britain the control of the sea route
to India.
George Elliott became a member of Parliament in 1868, he was made a Baronet by Queen Victoria in 1874.
When he died in 1893 he was buried in Houghton Le Spring, his funeral was attended by statemen, Lords and pitmen.
