A rocket ship, a guillotine and a pepper pot

If you'd like to entice someone who says they don't like walking to join you on a gentle amble, you could intrigue them with the promise of showing them a rocket ship, a giant pepper pot and what could be (from a distance) a guillotine, all standing proud on a limestone outcrop in the Yorkshire Dales countryside.

Once you've climbed a small hill to get closer to them, and perhaps even 'boarded' the rocket ship, there's the additional reward of fine views towards Bolton Castle. As you've probably guessed, these three structures are not quite what they seem - they're all stone follies. 

They are thought to have been built during the first half of the 19th century but no one seems to know who built them or exactly why. 

They stand guard over Sorrelsykes Park Hall, so it's likely a previous estate owner decided to build them. There was a time when country house owners built follies or ornamental features, just as a curiosity or maybe to show they had sufficient wealth to do something without any particular reason.

One theory is that they were built to draw the eye away from the spoils of a former lead mine nearby. Given when it was built, it's unlikely the builder intended the structure to look like a rocket ship but it gained that appearance because of the buttresses that seem to have been added to make it more stable. 

It's thought the 'pepper pot' was at once time used for curing bacon. The third folly is often referred to as a gate but from a distance I think it looks like a guillotine. There used to be a fourth structure, built to resemble a romantic ruin but it became so genuinely ruinous it had to be removed. ​​

Where are these remarkable features?

​Take the B6160 from Swinithwaite (near Berry’s Farm Shop & Cafe) in Wensleydale towards West Burton and you'll spot the rocket ship from the road. 

​A public footpath just before West Burton, signposted towards Flanders Hall, will take you up to the follies.  

You can climb inside the bottom of the 'rocket ship' and look up to the wooden floor above but turning around to look out over the dale is much more rewarding.