Bettisons Folly
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Hornsea
Hornsea is a small seaside resort, town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England at the eastern end of the Trans Pennine Trail.-Overview:According to the 2001 UK Census, Hornsea parish had a population of 8,243....
, East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is also referred to as Bettisons Tower and the Forgotten Folly, it was built some time between 1829 and 1853 by William Bettison.
At the time, William Bettison was a Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
based brewer who built the folly on what was then his garden. In those days communication was by sight, so his manservant would ascend the tower at the usual time his master returned from work, see him descending Southorpe hill and run down the tower to ensure 'dinner was served' as the master walked into the house. It incorporates a cranked up flagpole, initially installed to convey private messages. During World War II the tower was an air raid look out point and siren, (Hull was the most heavily bombed UK City after London). The siren was still in use into the Late fifties/ sixties when a new siren was erected on the new firestation on Southgate. The Folly is decorated with locally made 'treacle' bricks, highly fired for durability and subject to mis shaping.
Nowadays, Bettisons Folly is a Grade II listed building and stands in the middle of a new housing estate off Newbegin, the main street.
It is rarely open to the public.