Penshaw

Coordinates: 54°52′33″N 1°29′05″W / 54.875842°N 1.484793°W / 54.875842; -1.484793

The village of Penshaw local /ˈpɛnʃə/, formerly known as Painshaw or Pensher, is an area of the metropolitan district of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it derives its name from the Cumbric Pen, meaning hill or ridge, and the Saxon Shaw, a wood or thicket; thus Penshaw is the wooded hill.

Penshaw is well-known locally for Penshaw Monument, a prominent landmark built in 1844 atop Penshaw Hill, which is a half-scale replica of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. Owing to its proximity to Durham City, the area was allocated a Durham postcode, DH4, which forms part of the Houghton-le-Spring post town. It lies about three miles north of Houghton-le-Spring, just over the River Wear from Washington. It borders Herrington Country Park and is surrounded by a series of villages: Herrington, Shiney Row, Biddick, Coxgreen and Offerton.