Jenny's Lantern
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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.
The Jenny's Lantern area is a small south-facing hill or promontory rising to 144 metres (472 ft) above the Aln valley's 50 metres (160 ft) floor, 1.32 miles (2.12 km) north-east of Bolton and 2.7 miles (4.3 km) south of Eglingham, villages in north Northumberland. Confusingly, the site is 0.66 miles (1.06 km) north-east of a completely distinct Jenny's Lantern Hill. The site is immediately south of the boundary of Bewick and Beanley Moors SSSI.
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.[1] 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.[2]
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 3.2 miles (5.1 km) to the west, a 14th-century tower house modified in the 18th century as an eye-catcher for the Shawdon estate.[2][3] The local penchant for follies extended to the dominant landowner, Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland who commissioned the Ratcheugh Observatory before 1770,[4] and whose 1781 Brizlee Tower[5] sits roughly opposite, across the Aln, from Jenny's Lantern.[6]
During a severe storm on the night of 27 November 2021, the folly partially collapsed.[citation needed]
