thumb|upright|The Tenantry Column, Alnwick

The Tenantry Column is a monument to the south of Alnwick town centre, in Northumberland, England. It was erected in 1816 by the tenants of Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland in thanks for his reduction of their rents during the post-Napoleonic depression. It is a Doric column standing tall and surmounted by a lion en passant, the symbol of the Percy family. Four more lions stand on a platform at the base of the column. A muster roll of the Percy Tenantry Volunteers was sealed into the foundation. The structure was granted protection as a listed building in 1952 and since 1977 has been listed in the highest category, grade I.

Description

The Doric column is tall and topped by the Percy Lion, symbol of the historic Percy family.

History

Designed by the Newcastle architect David Stephenson, the column was erected by the tenants of the second Duke of Northumberland in 1816 in thanks for a reduction in rents. The foundation stone for the column was laid on 1 July 1816, an event witnessed by a large audience. The ceremony was led by a band and flag bearers and attended by Stephenson (bearing a ceremonial silver trowel), the principal tenants and two clergymen. The 21 oldest of Percy's tenants ceremoniously used the trowel to lay the stone. The foundation stone was afterwards blessed and ceremonially doused with corn, wine and oil. The column was not completed until after the Duke's 10 July 1817 death and was instead presented to his son Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland. The stone for the column came from a nearby estate on Percy family land.

The Duke had doubled or tripled rents during the agricultural boom that accompanied the Napoleonic Wars but, in an unusual show of 19th-century aristocratic generosity, had agreed to reduce them during the post-Napoleonic depression.

See also

  • Brizlee Tower - folly tower in Alnwick
  • Camphill Column, Alnwick - 1814 column in Alnwick
  • Lord Hill's Column - 1814-1816 doric column in Shrewsbury

References

  • Percy Tenantry Column at the Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project

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