Our pointless structures correspondent Angus Young heads to the edge of Hull to admire some unnecessary crenellations.
There are many folly buildings and structures dotted around East Yorkshire but none can quite match the historical quirkiness of one in Ellerker. In many ways, the small hamlet ten miles west of Hull ticks all the required boxes to qualify as a quintessentially English rural village. Unlike some of its immediate neighbours, Ellerker has not been overrun with new housing development. Instead, it still boasts a scattered cluster of distinctive older buildings made with materials extracted from local quarries as well as paddocks, crofts, farms, meandering country lanes, a stream and a large public green.
As a recent appraisal report on the Conservation Area covering most of the village put it: “Ellerker retains an open character, built form and quality of landscape that represents a rare survival of a pre-industrialised settlement.” A lack of kerbs, road markings and signs only add to its timeless quality. Many signs removed during the Second World War in a pre-emptive attempt to confuse invading German troops simply never re-appeared once the war ended. The same fate also befell a historic milestone which was buried in a secret spot for safekeeping. The elderly resident who kept it safe later died without divulging its whereabouts.
However right in the middle of this peaceful agricultural environment is an odd-looking stone wall complete with crenellations and archways, resembling something you might see as part of an ancient military castle. A clue to the wall’s origins can be seen high up in one section. Hand-carved into the stone is the legend: SEBASTOPOL 1855 A.D.
Scholars of the Crimean War will immediately recognise the name of the besieged city and the date as key elements of the conflict between the Russian Empire and the Allied forces of Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia. So was the wall brought back from the Black Sea port and re-built in Ellerker as some kind of memorial? Not quite, apparently.
According to local legend it was actually made from ballast used in ships sailing from Hull taking troops, ammunition and supplies to Crimea. At the time, stone for ballast was brought from Iceland by whaling ships. The same stone was also used to pave streets in Hull and nearby villages. Both the ballast and some of the vessels in question belonged to the owner of Ellerker Hall who is said to have decided to re-create a chunk of Crimea in the village.
Why it was built is not really known but the most popular theory suggests it was intended to spare the hall’s owner from having to see an elderly woman who lived in a cottage opposite using her outside toilet. Today, her former property is officially known as Sebastopol Cottage. I’m told it now has an inside loo.