'Penrith - The Eden Millennium Monument'

1.5 miles south of Penrith on a minor road off the A6.

Location : Eamont Bridge
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 521284

This fifty tonne block of granite was transported from Shap quarry, erected here and dedicated on July 2nd 2000 by the Bishop of Penrith at the culmination of the Eden Millennium Festival.

The site was chosen because of its association with neighbouring Meyburgh Henge, the 4000 year old Bronze Age amphitheatre which was the first great gathering place in the Eden Valley. The granite is 330 million years old, and the Monument is intended to last thousands of years.

In a trench round the base are buried about 2000 small stones decorated mostly by primary school children of Eden and placed there at the dedication service as birthday presents for Jesus' 2000th birthday.

The carved symbols on three sides of the Monument are an Alpha, a Cross with the number 2000, and an Omega. The Alpha and the Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and represent the beginning and the end, the past and the future, God the Creator and God the Holy Spirit. The Cross and the 2000 represent the present, 2000 years of Christianity, and Jesus Christ our Lord alive with us today.