Lady Annie Jerningham lived at Longridge Towers, a few miles outside Berwick. She was well connected and was a Grainger by birth (of Grainger Street fame in Newcastle).

She was the wife of Sir Hubert Jerningham, Liberal MP for Berwick from 1881-85. He also served as Colonial Secretary to various outposts of empire and was Governor of Trinidad and Tobago from 1897-1900. Unusually for the time, it was actually Annie who was the one with the money.

Her first husband, C.T. Mather died young and left her a very wealthy woman, as well as Longridge Towers, she also owned a castle in Switzerland.

Lady Jerningham died in 1902 and in 1908 her husband erected this statue in her memory.

It is made of marble which is sadly not the best material for our climate. The statue was originally going to be erected in Castlegate but plans were changed and it was sited here, at the top of Bankhill.

To protect the fragile marble from the winter weather, it as historically wrapped in straw and tarpaulin. In 1975, the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World programme filmed the statue being injected with some scientific substance which was to protect, making the wrappings unnecessary.

She was restored in 2008 but is today showing signs of further wear and tear.