Scarborough Mere is a natural lake in the Weaponness Valley, in

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

, England. Formerly measuring in area, the construction of the

York and North Midland Railway The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...

line from

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

bisected the Mere in 1845. Due to that and other factors, including drainage and landscaping, the surface area of the lake is now approximately . In the 20th century, the Mere was a popular tourist attraction owned by Scarborough Corporation, with rowing boats, a café and putting green. There was also a miniature Spanish galleon – the ''Hispaniola'' – which made trips across to 'Treasure Island' where holidaymakers could dig for

doubloon The doubloon (from Spanish ''doblón'', or "double", i.e. ''double escudo'') was a two-''escudo'' gold coin worth approximately $4 (four Spanish dollars) or 32 '' reales'', and weighing 6.766 grams (0.218 troy ounce) of 22-karat gold (or 0.917 fi ...

s. Dredging and maintenance of the lake decreased, and the increased silt and weed meant that waterborne activities stopped. The Mere is now part of the

Oliver's Mount Oliver's Mount is an area of high ground overlooking Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It offers views over the town, a tribute monument to the war dead, camping and caravanning at selected times of the year, 10 football pitches, 1 rugby l ...

Country Park and is managed by the Scarborough Mere Angling Club as a fishing lake, with the southern end used by waterskiers. A map dated 1766 by Thomas Bowen in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' shows Scarborough Mere as "a lake called Byard's Lake".

References

Bibliography

External links

Details of Scarborough Mere Angling Club
Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire Scarborough, North Yorkshire Lakes of North Yorkshire {{Scarborough-geo-stub