Visible for miles around, Penielheugh (pronounced pī-nul-hew) is the colloquial term for the soaring Waterloo Monument, which towers above the dense pine trees of high Peniel Heugh Hill, near Jedburgh. Standing one-hundred-and-fifty feet tall, the tower is the tallest man-made structure in the Borders, and was built for the Marquess of Lothian to commemorate the Duke of Wellington’s victory at the Battle of Waterloo, defeating Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815. (Some of the officers captured during the Napoleonic wars were prisoners of war in Hawick from 1812-14). Known at the time of its construction as Wellington’s Pillar, the original building work faltered in 1816, when the monument collapsed (possibly the victim of a small earthquake). Architectural control was then transferred to Archibald Elliot (responsible also for Jedburgh Castle Jail). Building was resumed in 1817, and finally finished in 1824. A wooden gallery at the top was added in 1867 to mark Queen Victoria’s visit to the Borders. Reputedly, the trees surrounding the monument were planted in the formations of the armies at Waterloo, but unfortunately there is no truth to this. The monument is not currently open to the public.