A roofless Greek temple on a hill near Sunderland, put up in 1844 and visible for miles across Wearside
Open accessNational Trust land — free to wander
Built at half the size of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, and to the same squat Doric pattern, it went up in 1844 in memory of John Lambton, first Earl of Durham. Known as ‘Radical Jack’, he was a campaigner for parliamentary reform who had died four years earlier. The money raised by public subscription ran out before a roof or inner walls could be added, which is why it stands open to the sky, just eighteen columns on a plinth. It’s free and open all the time, so you can walk up the hill whenever you like, and the columns show up on the skyline for miles around. The National Trust has looked after it since 1939. If you’re in the area, the reserves at Herrington sit right below the hill, and WWT Washington Wetland Centre is a short way north.
