Penshaw Monument was built in 1844 by Thomas Pratt of Sunderland, to commemorate John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, known as Lord Durham who had passed away on July 28th 1840. He was a great campaigner for radical reform and was instrumental in getting the people of Sunderland the vote – hence his popularity, and the willingness of Wearsiders to help pay for a memorial to him. He was also an Ambassador to Russia and the first Governor of the Province of Canada
The Monument stands 136 metres above sea level. It was designed to be a copy of the Theseion, the Temple of Hephaestus, in Athens and cost £6,000 to build.
The staircase which led to the top of the monument was closed for 85 years after the tragic death of a fifteen year old boy in 1926 whom had fallen from the top. The staircase is now open between Good Friday to the end of September, more information about this can be found on this page on the National Trust site.
Penshaw Monument is considered to be Wearside's most beloved landmark, even appearing on the badge of Sunderland Football Club. It can be seen for miles around and for many people travelling back on the A1/A19 is a sign that lets you know you are home
In order to find the cache you need to answer the following questions, once you have the answers to the questions do the maths.
A : N 54° 52.911 W 001° 28.731
You should be standing in front of a notice board by the gate. Read through the notice board to get some facts about the monument high above you on the hill. In what year was the monument given to the National Trust? From this year take a note of the 4th digit, this will be A
As the sign is currently missing A = 9
Now, take a walk up the hill to the monument
B : N 54° 52.978 W 001° 28.852
You should now be standing in front of a plaque. Read through the plaque and find the day of the month that stone was laid, this will be B
C : N 54° 52.981 W 001° 28.876
Next to Penshaw Monument there is a Trig point. Trig points were erected by the Ordnance Survey. The process of placing trig points on top of prominent hills and mountains began in 1935 to assist in the accurate retriangulation of Great Britain. Each trig point has a unique number, look at this trig point to find the number. Take the last digit, this will be C
D : N 54° 52.986 W 001° 28.869
There are some wooden steps here which make getting onto the Monument easier. How many wooden steps are there, this will be D
E : N 54° 52.982 W 001° 28.851
You are now standing in the middle of the monument, count how many Doric circular columns there are, this will be E
Now you have all the answers work out these maths questions and the cache can be found at
N 54° 52.RST W 001° 28.XYZ
R = E divided by 2
S = B - E - C
T = C + D
X = B divided by C
Y = (E + C + D) divided by A
Z = E divided by A
To help you if you add your answers up, R+S+T+X+Y+Z, you will get a total of 36. If they don't equal 36 you need to check your maths.
Please try not to flatten all the grass/vegetation near the cache. When you have found the cache please remember to cover it back up with the stones so that it doesn't stand out once vegetation starts to die back later in the year
Note there maybe livestock grazing on the hill but they should not bother you, if there are please keep dogs on the lead.
Huge thanks to The National Trust for granting permission to place this cache.