Jenny's Lantern is an area of moorland in north
Northumberland, England, taking its name from an 18th-century 'eye-catcher' folly sited towards the top of a small promontory hill above the
River Aln. Situated on the southern slope of the Jenny's Lantern area is an
Iron Age hillfort, overbuilt by and adjoined to a larger and very well preserved
Romano-British stone-built settlement and
field system. It partially collapsed during a storm in November 2021.
Location and naming
The Jenny's Lantern area is a small south-facing hill or promontory rising to above the Aln valley's floor, north-east of
Bolton and south of
Eglingham, villages in north Northumberland. Confusingly, the site is north-east of a completely distinct Jenny's Lantern Hill. The site is immediately south of the boundary of
Bewick and Beanley Moors SSSI
__NOTOC__
Bewick and Beanley Moors is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, in the north-east of England. The moors are asserted to be of national importance by Natural England for the extent, qu ...
.
Jenny's Lantern, or Jenny of the Lantern, is the reputed Northumbrian name for
Will-o'-the-wisp, a form of
atmospheric ghost lights associated with leading travellers to dangerous places.
A legend ascribed to this Jenny's Lantern tells of a shepherd who, one night, is drowned in a bog whilst following a lantern lit by his wife Jenny to guide his return from the inn at Eglingham.
Folly
An 18th-century folly, presumably built by the Bolton estate, is sited towards the top of the Jenny's Lantern area; it takes the form of a ruined shepherd's cottage, rectangular in plan with door and windows on the south wall, a complete westerly wall, but stepped and ruined towards the east wall.
Historic England describe it as an eye-catcher and speculate that the design is based on the nearby Crawley Tower, situated to the west, a 14th-century
tower house modified in the 18th century as an eye-catcher for the Shawdon estate.
The local penchant for follies extended to the dominant landowner,
Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland who commissioned the
Ratcheugh Observatory before 1770,
and whose 1781
Brizlee Tower sits roughly opposite, across the Aln, from Jenny's Lantern.
During a severe storm on the night of 27 November 2021, the folly partially collapsed.
Hillfort
Jenny's Lantern hillfort is an Iron Age defended settlement, undated, but falling within a style dating from circa 700BCE to 100CE. The fort is situated on the elevation contour and is of
multivallate
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
form, delineated by twin wide ramparts, the inner being up to high and the outer up to high, separated by a ditch, and forming an oval of by with the long axis orientated NE-SW, and entrance-ways at the north-east and south-west extents.
Romano-British settlement
The Jenny's Lantern site is circa east of the
Devil's Causeway, a major north-south
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
; and north-north-east of the Roman fort at
Learchild. The Jenny's Lantern hillfort, and the area to its east, preserve the remains of a supposed Romano-British settlement. Remains of at least 15 stone-founded circular huts of from to diameter are evident, three within the fort and the remainder in a series of seven embanked enclosures outside it. A field system delineated by rubble and boulder boundaries is found to the south and east of the enclosures. A
lacrymatory
A lacrymatory, lachrymatory or lacrimarium (from the Latin ''lacrima'', 'tears, tear') is a small vessel of terracotta or, more frequently, of glass, found in Rome, Roman and late Greece, Greek tombs, and formerly supposed to have been bottles i ...
was discovered at the site in 1824, and a
quern-stone in 1885. Historic England note that the "Iron Age defended settlement, Romano-British settlement and its field system south and east of Jenny's Lantern are extensive and particularly fine examples of their types" and note that survival of Romano-British field systems is rare, making the Jenny's Lantern site especially valuable.
The hillfort and settlement site has been placed on the Heritage at Risk Register, as its condition is found to be "generally unsatisfactory with major localised problems";
bracken is identified as the principal cause of vulnerability.
References
{{coord, 55.43154, N, 1.81248, W, type:landmark_region:GB, format=dms, display=title
Folly buildings in England
Hill forts in Northumberland
Roman sites in Northumberland