A pavilion was put up in a field to the south of Penshaw Hill to accommodate the Freemasons present, including 400 members of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham. At around 1:30 pm, the Freemasons formed a procession and ascended the hill, accompanied by a marching band and the monument's building committee. The Grand Treasurer placed a phial containing Victorian coins into a cavity in the foundation stone, which was then covered with a brass plate bearing an inscription that dedicated the monument to the Earl of Durham. Zetland then spread mortar on the stone with a silver trowel, specially engraved for the occasion. A second stone was then lowered on top of it as the band played "Rule, Britannia!", and Zetland used a plummet, level and square to adjust the upper stone before strewing it with corn, wine and oil. The Reverend Robert Green of Newcastle said a prayer and the Freemasons examined the plans of the monument before returning to their pavilion as the band played "God Save the Queen". "The Times" described the event thus: