Lady Jerningham Memorial

Lady Jerningham of Longridge Hall (now Longridge Towers School), was a much loved philanthropist who died in 1902 at the age of 52. Her statue, sculpted in 1906 by O Pennacchini, and donated to the town by her husband, Sir Hubert Jerningham, is sited high above the River Tweed on Meg's Mount, one of the Elizabethan bastions of Berwick-upon-Tweed's famous walls. As well as commemorating Lady Jerningham, the statue is an important townscape feature and symbolises the link between Longridge Towers and the town of Berwick.

In 1975 the statue featured in a TV broadcast of the programme 'Tomorrow's World', as it was vacuum-injected with silicon resin, the aim being to protect the marble from winter frosts and enable the practice of protecting it with tarpaulins and straw through the winter months to be discontinued. Unsurprisingly, this use of an untried technological 'solution' proved an illusory hope and the condition of the statue had deteriorated to the point where it required urgent attention.

After inspecting and reporting on its condition, Robin Kent Architecture & Conservation selected a suitable specialist conservator and following a period of fund raising, adminstered the repairs to arrest cracking that threatened to disfigure the noble lady. Other enhancement and access improvements designed by the consultancy ensure that the monument continues to make a significant contribution to the townscape and views on the approaches to the town.