Plaque

Sebastopol fortifications

Inscription

Established 1798. Rebuilt by T Blanch & Sons, 1898. This stone is a portion of the fortifications of Sebastopol.

Site: Sebastopol fortifications (1 memorial)

SW3, Old Church Street, 65, 1 The Courtyard

This plaque, on a building in the courtyard behind Old Church Street, is not self-explanatory. What was established in 1798 and rebuilt exactly 100 years later? And why was a lump of Sebastopol fortifications attached? Presumably the lump was brought home by a soldier following the siege in 1855. This memorial was on our Puzzle page for about a year when Deborah Hart Stock, a keen genealogist, wrote to us to shed some light on this very unusual memorial. Deborah explains that T. Blanch & Sons were a large family of coach-builders with extensive premises on Old Church Street in the later decades of the 19th century. She goes on: "In summary then:
a) The memorial plaque seems to have been put up by Thomas Blanch on his own property, probably as he expanded the premises of his successful coach-building business.
b) With Thomas' brothers, father David, and uncles all having worked in the trade {all of whom Deborah has researched} it seems likely that it was a well-established family business, perhaps founded by his grandfather James Blanch in 1798.
c) If James did establish the business it would probably have been in the Holborn area, as David Blanch did not move to Church Street until about 1843.

Finally, there is the question of the provenance of the stone plaque itself. It is possible that some member of this large family fought at the Siege of Sebastopol and brought the stone back to England, but there may be another explanation. The 1851 census shows that the immediate neighbour of David Blanch, at no.13 Barossa Place, Upper Church Street, was Thomas F. Hall, a Clerk at the War Office. Conceivably, Hall may have come into possession of a piece of the fortifications through his employment, and he passed it on to David Blanch, whose son Thomas used it as the plaque.

I realise that my conclusions about the plaque are somewhat circumstantial, but I hope that you've found them interesting, and that they at least provide a possible explanation! "

Our thanks to Deborah for digging out all this information. We've decided to leave this memorial on our puzzle page, just in case there's someone out there who can confirm her theory about the provenance of the stone.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Sebastopol fortifications

Subjects commemorated i

Sebastopol fortifications

Sebastopol is a city and port in Ukraine. Founded 1793 and fortified in 1794....

Read More

T. Blanch & Sons

Coach-makers, active in 1898.

Read More

Nearby Memorials

John Corbin

John Corbin

N8, Crouch Hill, Corbin Memorial Hall

Corbin Memorial Hall The Rev. John Corbin was pastor of Park Chapel, Crouch End from its commencement in 1856 to 1871. This stone is la...

2 subjects commemorated
Dr John William Polidori

Dr John William Polidori

W1, Great Pulteney Street, 38

This house was once the family home of the Polidoris.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Alienation Office

Alienation Office

EC4, King's Bench Walk, 3

"Act 5 and 6 Will. IV.Cap.82" refers to a legal instrument created during the reign of King William IV. Where else but the Temple would ...

3 subjects commemorated
BBC Television Centre - Bill Owen

BBC Television Centre - Bill Owen

W12, Wood Lane, BBC Television Centre - Star Terrace

The plaque on the brick wall in the picture reads: The BBC Star Terrace, "Bring me fun, bring me sunshine, bring me love" Sylvie Dee. De...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Sidney Lewis

Sidney Lewis

SW17, Garratt Lane, 934

The reports of the fund-raising campaign for this plaque named "historian Geoff Simmons" and it was said that the plaque would be "unveil...

1 subject commemorated

Previously viewed

Julia Minet

Julia Minet

Donor of a mosaic to the Red Cross Garden. She belonged to a public-spirited family of landlords, who funded a library, church and park (Myatt's Fields) for their own tenants in the Camberwell area...

Person, Philanthropy

1 memorial
Graham Thomson Lyall, VC

Graham Thomson Lyall, VC

Awarded the VC for his heroism on 27 September 1918, age 26, while serving in the 102nd Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. "Through two days of operations he captured 185 prisoners and 27 gun...

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
W. C. Simpkin

W. C. Simpkin

Name on one of the corner plaques of the East Ham WW1 memorial.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Holmes & Watson - Barts

Holmes & Watson - Barts

EC1, St Bartholomew's Hospital, North Building archway

The incident commemorated takes place in the first Sherlock Holmes story "A Study in Scarlett" published in 1887. See the plaque at the C...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Councillor C. J. Palmer

Councillor C. J. Palmer

Councillor and member of Housing Committee, Parmiter Street, 1926. Councillor and on the Bethnal Green Baths Committee in 1926.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial