Rudston Monolith

The tallest stone monolith in Britain stands in a churchyard near Driffield, and it's genuinely hard to know what to make of it. Rising 25 feet from the ground, this lump of millstone grit has been there for around 4,500 years - long before the Norman church that now surrounds it. You can walk right up to it, touch the thing, stare at the top. No ropes, no barriers. That's part of what makes it feel so immediate and strange.

What you're looking at is probably a Neolithic monument, though honestly, that's educated guessing. The locals have their own theories. It's the sort of place that prompts the obvious questions: who dragged this enormous rock here, why, and how? Standing beside it, those questions feel less academic and more like proper puzzles.

History buffs will get a kick out of this - it's one of those pre-Roman sites that shifts your sense of how long people have been arranging things in the English landscape. It won't keep you long, though. Half an hour covers it, including a wander round the churchyard. The real appeal is the visceral experience of something so old and so imposing.

It's free and accessible year-round. If you're camping at Thorpe Hall Cottages just down the road, or further afield at Haven Reighton Sands or The Old Mill, this is a genuinely worthwhile detour. Pair it with a proper walk across the Wolds.