Whitby is a seaside town, port and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the
Scarborough borough of
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...
, England. Situated on the east coast of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
at the mouth of the
River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Cliff is home to the ruins of
Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey was a 7th-century Christian monastery that later became a Benedictine abbey. The abbey church was situated overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England, a centre of the medieval Northumbrian ...
, where
Cædmon
Cædmon (; ''fl. c.'' 657 – 684) is the earliest English poet whose name is known. A Northumbrian cowherd who cared for the animals at the double monastery of Streonæshalch (now known as Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of St. Hilda, he w ...
, the earliest recognised English poet, lived. The fishing port emerged during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, supporting important
herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean ...
and
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industr ...
fleets, and was where
Captain Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
learned seamanship and, coincidentally, where his vessel to explore the southern ocean, ''
The Endeavour'' was built.
[Hough 1994, p. 55] Tourism started in Whitby during the Georgian period and developed with the arrival of the railway in 1839. Its attraction as a tourist destination is enhanced by the proximity of the high ground of the
North York Moors
The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and ...
national park and the
heritage coastline and by association with the horror novel ''
Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...
''.
Jet and
alum
An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double sulfate salt of aluminium with the general formula , where is a monovalent cation such as potassium or ammonium. By itself, "alum" often refers to potassium alum, with the ...
were mined locally, and Whitby jet, which was mined by the Romans and Victorians, became fashionable during the 19th century.
The earliest record of a permanent settlement is in 656 AD, when as Streanæshealh it was the place where
Oswy
Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig ( ang, Ōswīg; c. 612 – 15 February 670), was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the chur ...
, the Christian king of Northumbria, founded the first abbey, under the abbess
Hilda
Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. ...
. The
Synod of Whitby
In the Synod of Whitby in 664, King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome rather than the customs practiced by Irish monks at Iona and its satellite ins ...
was held there in 664 AD. In 867 AD,
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
raiders destroyed the monastery. Another monastery was founded in 1078 AD. It was in this period that the town gained its current name, ''Whitby'' (from "white settlement" in
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
). In the following centuries Whitby functioned as a fishing settlement until, in the 18th century, it developed as a port and centre for shipbuilding and whaling, the trade in locally mined alum, and the manufacture of Whitby jet jewellery.
The abbey ruin at the top of the East Cliff is the town's oldest and most prominent landmark. Other significant features include the
swing bridge
A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
, which crosses the
River Esk and the harbour, which is sheltered by the
grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
East and West piers. The town's maritime heritage is commemorated by statues of
Captain Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
and
William Scoresby, as well as the
whalebone arch that sits at the top of the West Cliff. The town also has a strong literary tradition and has featured in literary works, television and cinema, most famously in
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busi ...
's novel ''
Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...
''.
While Whitby's cultural and historical heritage contribute to the local economy, the town does suffer from the economic constraints of its remote location, ongoing changes in the fishing industry, relatively underdeveloped transport infrastructure, and limitations on available land and property. As a result, tourism and some forms of fishing remain the mainstay of its economy. It is the closest port to a proposed
wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...
development in the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
, 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 ...
and from
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the ...
. There are transport links to the rest of North Yorkshire and North East England, primarily through national rail links to Middlesbrough and road links to Teesside, via both the
A171 and
A174, and Scarborough by the former. As at 2011, the town had a population of 13,213.
History
Whitby was called ''Streanæshalc'', ''Streneshalc'', ''Streoneshalch'', ''Streoneshalh'', and ''Streunes-Alae in Lindissi'' in records of the 7th and 8th centuries. ''Prestebi'', from
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
(''village'') and (''of the priests''), is an 11th-century name. Its name was recorded as ''Hwitebi'' and ''Witebi'', from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
from (''white'') and (''village''), in the 12th century, ''Whitebi'' in the 13th century and ''Qwiteby'' in the 14th century.
Abbey
![Whitby Abbey 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Whitby_Abbey_1.jpg)
A
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...
was founded at Streanæshealh in AD 657 by King
Oswiu or Oswy of
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
, as an act of thanksgiving, after defeating
Penda, the
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
king of
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, y ...
. At its foundation, the abbey was an Anglo-Saxon 'double monastery' for men and women. Its first abbess, the royal princess
Hild
Hild or Hildr may refer to:
* Hildr or Hild is one of the Valkyries in Norse mythology, a personification of battle
* Hild or Hilda of Whitby is a Christian saint who was a British abbess and nun in the Middle Ages
* Hild (Oh My Goddess!), the ult ...
, was later venerated as a saint. The abbey became a centre of learning, and here
Cædmon
Cædmon (; ''fl. c.'' 657 – 684) is the earliest English poet whose name is known. A Northumbrian cowherd who cared for the animals at the double monastery of Streonæshalch (now known as Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of St. Hilda, he w ...
the cowherd was "miraculously" transformed into an inspired poet whose poetry is an example of
Anglo-Saxon literature
Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work '' Cædmo ...
. The abbey became the leading royal nunnery of the kingdom of
Deira, and the burial-place of its royal family. The
Synod of Whitby
In the Synod of Whitby in 664, King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome rather than the customs practiced by Irish monks at Iona and its satellite ins ...
, in 664, established the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
date of Easter in Northumbria at the expense of the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foo ...
one.
The monastery was destroyed between 867 and 870 in a series of raids by
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s from
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
under their leaders
Ingwar and
Ubba. Its site remained desolate for more than 200 years until after the
Norman Conquest of 1066.
[ After the Conquest, the area was granted to ]William de Percy
William I (Willame) de Percy (d.1096/9), 1st feudal baron of Topcliffe in North Yorkshire,Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.148 known as ''Willame als gernons'' (meaning "with whiskers"), was a French nobleman who arrived in Englan ...
who, in 1078 donated land to found a Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery dedicated to St Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupation ...
and St Hilda. William de Percy's gift included land for the monastery, the town and port of Whitby and St Mary's Church and dependent chapels at Fyling, Hawsker
Hawsker is the name for the combined villages of High and Low Hawsker that straddle the A171 road south east of Whitby, in North Yorkshire, England.
History
The name Hawsker derives from Old Norse and means Haukr's enclosure. The settlement w ...
, Sneaton
Sneaton is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. There is a church which is dedicated to St Hilda.
According to the 2011 UK census
A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken ever ...
, Ugglebarnby, Dunsley, and Aislaby, five mills including Ruswarp, Hackness
Hackness is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of the county of North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the North York Moors National Park. The parish population rose from 125 in the 2001 UK census to 221 in the 2011 UK c ...
with two mills and two churches. In about 1128 Henry I granted the abbey burgage in Whitby and permission to hold a fair at the feast of St Hilda on 25 August. A second fair was held close to St Hilda's winter feast at Martinmas
Saint Martin's Day or Martinmas, sometimes historically called Old Halloween or Old Hallowmas Eve, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours and is celebrated in the liturgical year on 11 November. In the Middle Ages and early modern period, ...
. Market rights were granted to the abbey and descended with the liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
. Whitby Abbey surrendered in December 1539 when Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
dissolved the monasteries.
Town
In 1540 the town had between 20 and 30 houses and a population of about 200.
The burgesses, who had little independence under the abbey, tried to obtain self-government after the dissolution of the monasteries. The king ordered Letters Patent
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...
to be drawn up granting their requests, but it was not implemented. In 1550 the Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
of Whitby Strand
Whitby Strand was a wapentake and liberty in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was one of thirteen wapentakes across the old North Riding of Yorkshire. The division of the area into the Liberty and Wapentake of Whitby Strand occurred in ...
, except for Hackness, was granted to the Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick.
Overview
The first creation ...
who in 1551 conveyed it to Sir John York and his wife Anne who sold the lease to the Cholmleys. In the reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
, Whitby was a small fishing port. In 1635 the owners of the liberty governed the port and town where 24 burgesses had the privilege of buying and selling goods brought in by sea. Burgage tenure continued until 1837, when by an Act of Parliament, government of the town was entrusted to a board of Improvement Commissioners, elected by the ratepayers.[
]
At the end of the 16th century Thomas Chaloner visited alum
An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double sulfate salt of aluminium with the general formula , where is a monovalent cation such as potassium or ammonium. By itself, "alum" often refers to potassium alum, with the ...
works in the Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
where he observed that the rock being processed was similar to that under his Guisborough
Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmar ...
estate. At that time alum was important for medicinal uses, in curing leather and for fixing dyed cloths and the Papal States and Spain maintained monopolies on its production and sale. Chaloner secretly brought workmen to develop the industry in Yorkshire, and alum was produced near Sandsend Ness
Sandsend Ness is an old alum quarrying site close to Whitby in North Yorkshire, England.
Beneath extensive deposits of grey pyritic shale a thin band of sideritic mudstone is present at this site and there is a further 6 metres of almost non-b ...
from Whitby in the reign of James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
. Once the industry was established, imports were banned and although the methods in its production were laborious, England became self-sufficient.
Whitby grew significantly as a port as a result of the alum trade and by importing coal from the Durham coalfield to process it.
Whitby grew in size and wealth, extending its activities to include shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...
using local oak timber. In 1790–91 Whitby built 11,754 tons of shipping, making it the third largest shipbuilder in England, after London and Newcastle. Taxes on imports entering the port raised money to improve and extend the town's twin piers, improving the harbour and permitting further increases in trade. In 1753 the first whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industr ...
ship set sail to Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...
and by 1795 Whitby had become a major whaling port. The most successful year was 1814 when eight ships caught 172 whales, and the whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...
, the ''Resolutions catch produced 230 tons of oil. The carcases yielded 42 tons of whale bone
Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and r ...
used for ' stays' which were used in the corsetry trade until changes in fashion made them redundant. Blubber
Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians.
Description
Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except fo ...
was boiled to produce oil for use in lamps in four oil houses on the harbourside. Oil was used for street lighting until the spread of gas lighting reduced demand and the Whitby Whale Oil and Gas Company changed into the Whitby Coal and Gas Company. As the market for whale products fell, catches became too small to be economic and by 1831 only one whaling ship, the ''Phoenix,'' remained.
Whitby benefited from trade between the Newcastle coalfield and London, both by shipbuilding and supplying transport. In his youth the explorer James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
learned his trade on colliers, shipping coal from the port. HMS ''Endeavour'', the ship commanded by Cook on his voyage to Australia and New Zealand, was built in Whitby in 1764 by Tomas Fishburn as a coal carrier named ''Earl of Pembroke''. She was bought by the Royal Navy 1768, refitted and renamed.
Whitby developed as a spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...
in Georgian times when three chalybeate
Chalybeate () waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.
Name
The word ''chalybeate'' is derived from the Latin word for steel, , which follows from the Greek word . is the singular form of ...
springs were in demand for their medicinal and tonic qualities. Visitors were attracted to the town leading to the building of "lodging-houses" and hotels, particularly on the West Cliff.[ Then, in 1839, the Whitby and Pickering Railway connecting Whitby to Pickering and eventually to ]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 ...
was built, and played a part in the town's development as a tourism destination. George Hudson
George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a title conferr ...
, who promoted the link to York, was responsible for the development of the Royal Crescent which was partly completed. For 12 years from 1847, Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...
, son of George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians
In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...
, engineer to the Whitby and Pickering Railway, was the Conservative MP for the town promoted by Hudson as a fellow protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
.
The black mineraloid
A mineraloid is a naturally occurring mineral-like substance that does not demonstrate crystallinity. Mineraloids possess chemical compositions that vary beyond the generally accepted ranges for specific minerals. For example, obsidian is an a ...
jet, the compressed remains of ancestors of the monkey-puzzle tree, is found in the cliffs and on the moors and has been used since the Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
to make beads. The Romans are known to have mined it in the area. In Victorian times jet was brought to Whitby by pack pony to be made into decorative items. It was at the peak of its popularity in the mid-19th century when it was favoured for mourning jewellery by Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
after the death of Prince Albert.
The advent of iron ships in the late 19th century and the development of port facilities on the River Tees
The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has bee ...
led to the decline of smaller Yorkshire harbours. The ''Monks-haven'' launched in 1871 was the last wooden ship built in Whitby, and a year later the harbour was silted up.
On 30 October 1914, the hospital ship ''Rohilla
Rohillas are a community of Pashtun ancestry, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Roh ...
'' was sunk, hitting the rocks within sight of shore just off Whitby at Saltwick Bay. Of the 229 people on board, 85 lost their lives in the disaster; most are buried in the churchyard
In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...
at Whitby.
In a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in December 1914, the town was shelled by the German battlecruiser
The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...
s ''Von der Tann'' and ''Derfflinger''. In the final assault on the Yorkshire coast, the ships aimed their guns at the signal post on the end of the headland. Whitby Abbey sustained considerable damage in the attack, which lasted ten minutes. The German squadron responsible for the strike escaped despite attempts made by the Royal Navy.
During the early 20th century the fishing fleet kept the harbour busy, and few cargo boats used the port. It was revitalised as a result of a strike at Hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
docks in 1955, when six ships were diverted and unloaded their cargoes on the fish quay. Endeavour Wharf, near the railway station, was opened in 1964 by the local council. The number of vessels using the port in 1972 was 291, increased from 64 in 1964. Timber, paper and chemicals are imported, while exports include steel, furnace-bricks and doors. The port is owned and managed by Scarborough Borough Council since the Harbour Commissioners relinquished responsibility in 1905.
A marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...
was started in 1979 by dredging the upper harbour and laying pontoons. Light industry and car parks occupy the adjacent land. More pontoons were completed in 1991 and 1995. The Whitby Marina Facilities Centre was opened in June 2010.
Governance
By an Act of 1837 government of the town was entrusted to a board of Improvement Commissioners, elected by the ratepayers
Rates are a type of property tax system in the United Kingdom, and in places with systems deriving from the British one, the proceeds of which are used to fund local government. Some other countries have taxes with a more or less comparable role ...
. A Local Board was formed in 1872, and lasted until Whitby Urban District Council
Whitby Urban District was an urban district in the North Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974. It comprised the present Whitby Town Council plus Briggswath (the present Scarborough Borough Council wards of Mayfield, Streonshalh and Whitby West ...
was formed under the Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
. The townships of Whitby, Ruswarp and Hawsker-cum-Stainsacre were formed into a Parliamentary borough under the Reform Act of 1832 returning one member until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...
.[
Since 1974 Whitby has been administered by Scarborough Borough Council, one of the seven district councils in ]North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...
. For borough council purposes the town comprises three wards, Mayfield, Streonshalh and Whitby West Cliff. The borough council is a non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non- ...
, responsible for housing, planning, leisure and recreation, waste collection, environmental health and revenue collection. North Yorkshire County Council is a non-metropolitan county
A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...
providing education, transport, highways, fire, waste disposal, social and library services. At the lowest level of governance Whitby has a town council which, for election and administrative purposes, is divided into six electoral wards represented by 19 councillors responsible for burial grounds, allotments, play areas and street lighting. Elections to the town council are held every four years.
In the UK parliament the town is represented by a Conservative, Robert Goodwill, who was elected member for the Scarborough and Whitby constituency in 2010.
Religion
In the three wards that make up the Whitby district of North Yorkshire, out of a population of 13,596 there are 10,286 who stated that their religion was Christian in the 2001 UK census. There were 19 Muslims, 17 Buddhists, 12 Jews, 3 Sikhs and 499 people had no religious affiliations.
St Mary's Church is an ancient foundation, St Ninian's opened in Baxtergate in 1778 and St John's, also on Baxtergate, was consecrated in 1850. St Michael's was opened in 1856 and St Hilda's on the West Cliff was built in 1885. The Roman Catholic church dedicated to St Hilda was built in 1867 on Baxtergate.[ There are places of worship for nonconformists including a United Reformed Church; two Methodist chapels are no longer used. The Mission to Seafarers maintains a Christian ministry and has a chapel, reading room and recreational facilities.
The Bishop of Whitby is a suffragan bishop of the ]Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
Diocese of York
The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire.
The diocese is headed by the ...
, in the Province of York
The Province of York, or less formally the Northern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England and consists of 12 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to ...
. The town lies within the Central Vicariate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough.
Geography
Whitby is situated on the east coast of Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
facing the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
in a deep valley at the mouth of the River Esk. It has been a bridging point since at least medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
times and several bridges have spanned the river. The current bridge, built in 1908, is a swing bridge with a span that separates the upper and lower harbours which have a total area of around . The houses are built of brick or stone, often with red pantiled roofs, in narrow, steep streets, on both sides of the river.
The town is surrounded on its landward sides by the moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generall ...
of the North York Moors
The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and ...
National Park and the North Sea abuts it on the seaward side. The coastal areas are designated part of the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast.
The harbour and the mouth of the River Esk are on a geological fault
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectoni ...
. On the east side the cliff is tall, , and consists of alternating layers of shale, sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
and clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...
. On the west side the cliff is much lower and has a deep capping of boulder clay over a sandstone base making it less stable and liable to slippage. Both cliffs are being eroded quite rapidly.
Fossils and "snakestones"
The town is a coastal stretch known as the 'Dinosaur Coast' or the 'Fossil Coast', the area is around long and stretches from Staithes
Staithes is a seaside village in the borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Easington and Roxby Becks, two brooks that run into Staithes Beck, form the border between the Borough of Scarborough and Redcar and Cleveland. The area l ...
in the north and south to Flamborough. At Whitby dinosaur footprints are visible on the beach. The rock strata contain fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s and organic remains including jet. Fossils include the petrified bones of an almost complete crocodile and a specimen of plesiosaurus
''Plesiosaurus'' (Greek: ' ('), near to + ' ('), lizard) is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the Early Jurassic. It is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England. It is distinguishable b ...
measuring in length, and in breadth was discovered in 1841. The Rotunda Museum in Scarborough has a comprehensive collection of fossils from the area.
Smaller fossils include numerous species of ammonite
Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefis ...
s, or "snake stones", from the Whitby Mudstone Formation (Alum Shale Member) and at Whitby Scar nautiloids in the lower beds of the lias strata. The town's "snakestones" folklore (similar to Keynsham
Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located between Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. It has a population of 16,000.
It was listed in the Domesday Book as ''Cainesham'' (as it is pronounced), which is believed to mean the home of ...
's in Somerset) has it that fossils were once living serpents that were common in the area. This was until the 7th century AD when Anglo-Saxon Abbess St Hilda of Whitby (614–680), first had to rid the region of snakes. She did so by casting a spell that turned them to stone and then threw them from the cliff tops.
Local collectors and dealers in fossils often carved heads on ammonites to increase curiosity value and improve sales. Since 1935, the Whitby Coat of Arms incorporates three snakestones due to this folklore. The Hildoceras genus of ammonite is named in St Hilda's honour.[
]
Economy
Tourism supported by fishing is the mainstay of Whitby's economy in an isolated community with poor transport infrastructure and restricted by building constraints in the surrounding North York Moors National Park
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north' ...
. The economy is governed by the changing fortunes of fishing, tourism and to some extent, manufacturing. Structural changes have led to concentrations of deprivation, unemployment and benefit dependence. A narrowing employment base and dependence on low wage and low skill sectors has resulted in younger age groups leaving the area. There are few business start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises. Older people who make increasing demands on the area's health and social care capacity have moved into the area. Demographic changes, Whitby's relative isolation from the region's main growth areas and decline in traditional employment sectors pose an economic challenge.
The town has a variety of self-catering accommodation, holiday cottages, caravans and campsites, and guest houses, inns, bed & breakfast establishments and hotels. The jet industry declined at the end of the 19th century, but eight shops sell jet jewellery, mainly as souvenirs to tourists. In 1996, Whitby West Cliff qualified for a 'Tidy Britain Group Seaside Award'. The town was awarded "Best Seaside Resort 2006", by '' Which? Holiday'' magazine.
The harbour has a total area of about and is used by commercial, fishing and pleasure craft. Inshore fishing, particularly for crustaceans and line fish, takes place along the coast. Lobsters, brown and velvet crabs are important to the local fishery. From May to August, salmon is found in the Esk, and small open boats are licensed to net these off the harbour entrance. There are around 40 licensed angling party boats. The commercial catch is no longer herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean ...
but has been replaced by cod, haddock, and other fish caught within of the coast. A fish market
A fish market is a marketplace for selling fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet ma ...
on the quayside operates as need arises. The ready supply of fresh fish has resulted in an abundance of " chippies" in the town, including the Magpie Cafe which Rick Stein has described as the best fish and chip shop in Britain.
The Whitby Marina project, jointly funded by Scarborough Borough Council, Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund, was developed to diversify the local economy. The remaining shipbuilding firm, Parkol Marine, is a family-run business on the east side of the river. Founded in 1988, the boatyard has two berths for new build and a dry dock for repairs. St Hilda's Business Centre provides office space for a range of businesses. Whitby Business Park is a site located by the A171 road, from the harbour on the southern outskirts of the town. Companies on the park include Supreme Plastics, Whitby Seafoods Ltd
Whitby Seafoods Ltd is an independent, family owned and managed business based in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England specialising in frozen seafood products coated in batter and breadcrumbs. The company claims that it is the largest scampi facto ...
and Botham's of Whitby alongside major retailers, Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre with stores across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006, un ...
and Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
.
The east coast has limited conventional energy generation capacity, but Whitby is the closest port to a proposed development on Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank ( Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England.
During the last ice age the bank was part of a large landmass ...
, ideally placed to provide the offshore wind power
Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of c ...
industry with support vessel operations and logistics. The Dogger Bank wind farm could include up to 2,600 giant turbines covering more than .
Transport
Water
Whitby and River Esk
Whitby is on the River Esk and has a port used for shipping to Europe, especially Scandinavia, and it mainly handles grain, steel products, timber and potash
Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form. cargo. Vessels limited to 3,000 tonnes deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, pro ...
can dock at the wharf, which is able to load or unload two ships simultaneously. , of dock space is used to store all-weather cargo, with a warehouse.
Land
Rail
The town is served by Whitby railway station
Whitby is a railway station at the head of the Esk Valley Line, which runs between Middlesbrough and Whitby via Nunthorpe. The station, situated east of Grosmont, serves the seaside town of Whitby, Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, E ...
which is the terminus of the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the ...
, operated by Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
. It was formerly the northern terminus of the Whitby, Pickering and 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 ...
Line. In 2007, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway began a summer service between Pickering and Whitby operated by steam locomotives, as an extension of their long-standing Pickering- Grosmont service. The Scarborough and Whitby Railway
The Scarborough & Whitby Railway was a railway line from Scarborough to Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. The line followed a difficult but scenic route along the North Yorkshire coast.
The line opened in 1885 and closed in 1965 as part of ...
, which follows a scenic route along the coast, was built in 1885; it required construction of the red brick Larpool Viaduct
Larpool Viaduct, also known as the Esk Valley Viaduct is a 13 arch brick viaduct built to carry the Scarborough & Whitby Railway over the River Esk, North Yorkshire, England.
History and description
The viaduct was constructed for the Sca ...
across the Esk Valley into Whitby. The line closed as a result of the Beeching axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
in 1965; the trackbed is now used as a footpath, bridleway and by cyclists. The Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway had a station at Whitby West Cliff and ran close to the cliffs to the north of the town. It opened in 1883 and closed in 1958.
Road
Whitby is situated on the A171 road
The A171 is a road in England that links the North Yorkshire towns of Middlesbrough, Guisborough, Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay and Scarborough. Locally it is known as The Moor Road. The road is mostly single carriageway but has some sections of d ...
from Scarborough to Guisborough, which originally passed over the swing bridge
A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
. A high level bridge over the Esk Valley was built in 1980 to avoid the bridge and ease congestion in the town centre. The A174 accesses coastal towns to the north and the A169
The A169 is an A road (UK), A road in North Yorkshire, England. It runs from the A64 road, A64 at Malton, North Yorkshire, Malton on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds through the Vale of Pickering and across the North York Moors to join the A171 ...
crosses the moors to Pickering.
Whitby is served by the Yorkshire Coastliner
Transdev York & Country (also known as Yorkshire Coastliner) operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Man ...
bus line, operating from Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
, Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England, east of the Great North Road, north-east of Leeds, and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the ...
, York, Scarborough, Bridlington
Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 ...
, Pickering and Malton, with connections beyond Yorkshire. In 2018, this was voted Britain's most scenic bus route. Arriva North East
Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United ...
runs bus services connecting Whitby to Scarborough and Middlesbrough.
Walking
The coastal section of the Cleveland Way
The Cleveland Way is a National Trail in the historic area of Cleveland in North Yorkshire, northern England. It runs between Helmsley and the Brigg at Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park.
History
Development of the Clev ...
National Trail passes through Whitby.
Air
The nearest airport, about from Whitby, is Teesside International Airport, which has a regular service from Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, Schiphol airport
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
.
Public services
A wide range of health care services is provided by Whitby Community Hospital, formerly run by the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Health Care NHS Trust
An NHS trust is an organisational unit within the National Health Services of England and Wales, generally serving either a geographical area or a specialised function (such as an ambulance service). In any particular location there may be several ...
and now by the Humber NHS Foundation Trust. In February 2018 it was agreed to redevelop the hospital site at a cost of £12 million into a "health and wellbeing hub" with an urgent care centre and 19 inpatient beds.
There are five general practitioners and five dentists in the area. Yorkshire Ambulance Service
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) is the NHS ambulance service covering most of Yorkshire in England. It is one of ten NHS Ambulance Trusts providing England with emergency medical services as part of the National Health Service it r ...
provides hospital transport throughout Yorkshire.
Whitby fire station, run by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the seven districts of administrative county of North Yorkshire: Craven, Harrogate, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby; as well ...
, is crewed between 8 am and 6 pm. The town's two police stations are provided by the North Yorkshire Police Authority
A police authority in the United Kingdom is a public authority that is responsible for overseeing the operations of a police force. The nature and composition of police authorities has varied over time, and there are now just four dedicated "police ...
. The lifeboat station built in 2007, on the east bank, is operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...
. The crew members are unpaid volunteers and the station has two lifeboats, an inshore D class lifeboat the ''Warter Priory'' which was donated to the station in 2017, and an all-weather Trent class lifeboat, the ''George and Mary Webb''.
North Yorkshire County Council waste management services provide a household waste recycling centre at Whitby Industrial Estate, and operates an alternate weekly collection of household waste, whereby the type of waste collected alternates between recyclables and landfill waste. The water supply, predominantly from the River Esk, is treated at Ruswarp Water Treatment Works and distributed from there by Yorkshire Water
Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company has its ...
who also deal with the town's sewerage.
CE Electric UK
Northern Powergrid Holdings Company (formerly CE Electric UK Funding Company) is an electrical distribution company based in Newcastle Upon Tyne in England. It is the owner of Northern Powergrid (Northeast) plc (formerly Northern Electric Distrib ...
is responsible for delivering electricity and Northern Gas Networks supply piped gas.
Education
Whitby has a three-tier school system, primary, middle (11–14) and Caedmon College (11–19), which was formed in 2014 from the merger of Caedmon School (11–14) and Whitby Community College (14–19). Eskdale School continues to operate as a middle school, but is currently consulting on raising its age range to 16. In February 2018 Caedmon College and Eskdale School agreed to federate and plan to provide a joint sixth form operation in the town.
The primary schools are St Hilda's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stakesby Community Primary School, West Cliff Primary School, Airy Hill Community Primary School and East Whitby Community Primary School. North Yorkshire County Council provides education services.
The Whitby and District Fishing Industry Training School offers training for new entrants to the fishing industry and experienced fishermen.
Landmarks
The swing bridge spanning the Esk divides the upper and lower harbours and joins the east and west sides of the town. Whitby developed as an important bridging point of the River Esk and in 1351 permission was granted for tolls to be taken on the bridge for its maintenance. In 1609 a survey for a new bridge was commissioned while in 1628 it was described as a drawbridge where men raised planks to let vessels pass and tolls were collected. The bridge posts were rebuilt in stone at a cost of £3,000 in 1766. This structure was replaced by a four-arched bridge between 1833 and 1835, one arch made of cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...
swivelled to allow vessels to pass.[ This bridge was replaced between 1908 and 1909 by the current electric swing bridge.
The bridge allowed the town to spread onto the west bank, whilst the east bank, the Haggerlythe, is dominated by St Mary's Church and the ruins of Whitby Abbey which is owned by ]English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
. St Mary's Church is a grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
on the site of a Saxon church. The church's ancient foundation dates from the 12th century. Over time it has been extensively altered and enlarged but retains several features including box pews
A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries.
History in England
Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in chu ...
. The East Cliff is quite a distance by road from the church, the alternative is to climb the 199 steps of the "Church Stairs" or use the footpath called "Caedmon's Trod". The stone stairs, which replaced the original wooden steps, were built about 200 years ago and renovated between 2005 and 2006. There are landings originally assisting coffin bearers on their journey to the graveyard on the cliff top.
The harbour is sheltered by the grade II listed east and west pier
Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...
s each with a lighthouse and beacon. The west lighthouse, of 1831, is the taller at and the east lighthouse, built in 1855, is high. On the west pier extension is a foghorn that sounds a blast every 30 seconds during fog. New lights were fitted to both the lighthouse towers and the beacons in 2011. Whitby Lighthouse, operated by Trinity House
"Three In One"
, formation =
, founding_location = Deptford, London, England
, status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity
, purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons
, he ...
, is located outside the town, to the south-east, on Ling Hill.
On the West Cliff is a statue of Captain James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
who served his apprenticeship in the town, and a whalebone arch, commemorates the whaling industry. It is the second such arch, the original is preserved in Whitby Archives Heritage Centre. By the inner harbour is a statue commemorating William Scoresby Sr. (father of William Scoresby Jr.), designer of the crow's nest
A crow's nest is a structure in the upper part of the main mast of a ship or a structure that is used as a lookout point.
On ships, this position ensured the widest field of view for lookouts to spot approaching hazards, other ships, or land b ...
.
On the outskirts of town to the west is the 19th-century Sneaton Castle built by James Wilson who sold his sugar plantation where he had over 200 slaves and moved to Whitby. Alongside it is St Hilda's Priory, the mother house of the Order of the Holy Paraclete
The Order of The Holy Paraclete (OHP) is an Anglican religious congregation. The community began in 1915, when it was founded by Margaret Cope (1886–1961) at the Mother House of St Hilda's Priory, Sneaton Castle, Whitby. The mother house was ...
. The castle was used as a school and is now a conference centre and hotel in association with the priory.
Culture and media
Frank Meadow Sutcliffe left a photographic record of the town, harbour, fishing and residents in late-Victorian times. His most famous photograph entitled "Water Rats" was taken in 1886. He became famous internationally as a great exponent of pictorial photography. He exhibited his work in Tokyo, Vienna, France, the US and Great Britain winning over 60 gold, silver and bronze medals. He retired in 1922 and became curator of Whitby Museum. The Royal Photographic Society made him an honorary member in 1935. A gallery of his work is located on Flowergate.
Pannett Park was built on land purchased by a local philanthropist and politician Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...
Robert Pannett in 1902. After his death in 1928, the trust he set up created a public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...
and art gallery. In 1931 Whitby Museum
Whitby Museum is an independent museum in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, run by Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, a learned society and registered charity, established in 1823. It is located in a building opened in 1931 in Pannett ...
was built behind the gallery by the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society. It holds a collection of the archaeological and social history of jet and has on display a " Hand of Glory". The Friends of Pannett Park, formed in 2005, successfully bid for a Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
grant to refurbish the park.
There has been a lifeboat in Whitby since 1802 and the old boathouse, built in 1895 and used until 1957, is a museum displaying the ''Robert and Ellen Robson'' lifeboat, built in 1919.
The ancient Penny Hedge ceremony is performed on the eve of Ascension Day
The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared b ...
commemorating a penance imposed by the abbot on miscreant hunters in the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. The hunters using a knife costing a penny had to cut wood in Eskdaleside and take it to Whitby harbour where it was made into a hedge that would survive three tides. This tradition is carried out annually on the east side of the upper harbour.
The '' Whitby Gazette'' was founded in 1854 by Ralph Horne, a local printer. The first issues were records of visitors and lodgings rather than a newspaper. The publication became a weekly newspaper in 1858, with a short spell of being published twice weekly between 2000 and 2012. The local radio stations are BBC Tees
BBC Radio Tees is the BBC's local radio station serving the former county of Cleveland which comprises the unitary authorities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV an ...
, This is The Coast and Coast & County Radio
The Pavilion Theatre built in the 1870s in West Cliff hosts a range of events during the summer months. For over four decades the town has hosted the Whitby Folk Week, and since 1993 the bi-annual Whitby Goth Weekend
Whitby Goth Weekend, abbreviated to WGW or nicknamed Whitby, is a twice-yearly music festival for the gothic subculture, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire.
Summary
Whitby Goth Weekend is an alternative music festi ...
for members of the Goth subculture
Goth is a music-based subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of Gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. The name ''Goth'' was derived directly from the genre. Notable post-pu ...
. "Whitby Now" is an annual live music event featuring local bands in the Pavilion which has taken place since 1991. Since 2008, the Bram Stoker Film Festival has taken place in October.
Literature
The town has a strong literary tradition; it can even be said that the earliest English literature comes from Whitby as Cædmon
Cædmon (; ''fl. c.'' 657 – 684) is the earliest English poet whose name is known. A Northumbrian cowherd who cared for the animals at the double monastery of Streonæshalch (now known as Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of St. Hilda, he w ...
, the first known Anglo Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
poet was a monk at the order that used Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey was a 7th-century Christian monastery that later became a Benedictine abbey. The abbey church was situated overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England, a centre of the medieval Northumbrian ...
during the abbacy of St Hilda (657–680). Part of Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busi ...
's novel ''Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...
'' was set in Whitby, incorporating pieces of local folklore, including the beaching of the Russian ship ''Dmitri''. Stoker discovered the name "Dracula" at the old public library. One scholar has suggested that Stoker chose Whitby as the site of Dracula's first appearance in England because of the Synod of Whitby
In the Synod of Whitby in 664, King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome rather than the customs practiced by Irish monks at Iona and its satellite ins ...
, given the novel's preoccupation with timekeeping and calendar disputes. Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many st ...
set her novel ''Sylvia's Lovers
''Sylvia's Lovers'' (1863) is a novel written by Elizabeth Gaskell, which she called "the saddest story I ever wrote".
Plot summary
The novel begins in the 1790s in the coastal town of Monkshaven (modeled on Whitby, England) against the backgro ...
'' partly in the town which she visited in 1859 and Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
stayed at 5, East Terrace between July and September 1854: his first publications may have been published in the ''Whitby Gazette''.
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
is known to have visited Whitby, and in a letter of 1861 to his friend Wilkie Collins, who was at the time in Whitby, Dickens says:
In my time that curious railroad by the Whitby Moor was so much the more curious, that you were balanced against a counter-weight of water, and that you did it like Blondin. But in these remote days the one inn of Whitby was up a back-yard, and oyster-shell grottoes were the only view from the best private room.
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...
stayed in Whitby to work on his novel, ''No Name''. He was accompanied by Caroline Graves, the inspiration for '' The Woman in White''.
Mary Linskill was born in a small house at Blackburn's Yard in 1840. She reached a wide readership when her second novel, ''Between the Heather and the Northern Sea'', was published in 1884. Her last novel ''For Pity's Sake'', was published posthumously in 1891. James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that r ...
, the American writer, visited Whitby while ambassador in London 1880–85, staying at 3 Wellington Terrace, West Cliff. On his last visit in 1889, he wrote:
This is my ninth year at Whitby and the place loses none of its charm for me.
G. P. Taylor, a former Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
curate in Whitby, is now a celebrated author. His best-selling book ''Shadowmancer
''Shadowmancer'' is a fantasy novel by G. P. Taylor, first published privately in 2002. It is a Christian allegory in the form of a fantasy adventure, akin to C. S. Lewis' ''The Chronicles of Narnia''. Taylor wrote the book to counteract what h ...
'' was set in Whitby. Theresa Tomlinson
Theresa Tomlinson (born 1946 in Crawley, Sussex) is an English writer for children, mainly of historical fiction. She advocates giving children "the opportunity to consider many different role models and ways of life, so that they can make up th ...
, a writer of historical and other fiction for children and young adults, has retired to the town.
The novel '' Possession: A Romance'' by A. S. Byatt
Dame Antonia Susan Duffy ( Drabble; born 24 August 1936), known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt ( ), is an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been widely translated, into more than t ...
, set in the town, was adapted into a 2002 feature film called ''Possession
Possession may refer to:
Law
* Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance
* Drug possession, a crime
* Ownership
* ...
'' starring Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...
.
A crime novel series by James Whitworth is set in Whitby. The first two novels are ''Death's Disciple'' and ''The Eve of Murder''. These were followed by ''Bidding to Die'', ''Better the Devil You Know''. and ''Murder on the Record''.
A trilogy of young adult novels, ''The Whitby Witches
''The Whitby Witches'' is the first book in ''The Whitby Witches'' series by Robin Jarvis. It was originally published in 1991.
Plot summary
After the deaths of their parents, eight-year-old orphan Ben and his older sister, Jennet, have been push ...
'', makes much of the town's setting and history, embellishing local traditions whilst incorporating them into the narrative. The author, Robin Jarvis
Robin Jarvis (born 8 May 1963) is a British Young-Adult fiction (YA) and children's novelist, who writes dark fantasy, suspense and supernatural thrillers. His books for young adults have featured the inhabitants of a coastal town battling a mon ...
, recalls "The first time I visited Whitby, I stepped off the train and knew I was somewhere very special. It was a grey, drizzling day but that only added to the haunting beauty and lonely atmosphere of the place. Listening to Carmina Burana on my headphones, I explored the ruined abbey on the clifftop. The place was a fantastic inspiration. In ''The Whitby Witches'' I have interwoven many of the existing local legends, such as the frightening Barguest, whilst inventing a few of my own, most notably the aufwaders." Jarvis returned to Whitby for his 2016 novel, ''The Power of Dark
''The Power of Dark'' is the first in a series by children's author Robin Jarvis known as The Witching Legacy. The series returns to the coastal town of Whitby, the setting of Jarvis' supernatural children's fantasy trilogy, '' The Whitby Witches ...
'', the first in The Witching Legacy series.
Other literary works making reference to Whitby include:
* ''Caedmon's Song
''Caedmon's Song'' is a novel written by Canadian crime writer Peter Robinson in 1990. Also known in the United States and Canada as ''The First Cut'', it was Robinson's first novel not to feature Inspector Alan Banks. Although seemingly unrela ...
'' by Peter Robinson
* ''The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps'' by Michel Faber
Michel Faber (born 13 April 1960) is a Dutch-born writer of English-language fiction, including his 2002 novel ''The Crimson Petal and the White''. His latest book is a novel for young adults, '' D: A Tale of Two Worlds'', published in 2020. His ...
* ''The Resurrectionists
''The Resurrectionists'' is a 2000 horror novel by Kim Wilkins. It is the story of Maisie Fielding who, bored with her job and family, returns to England to research her grandmother, who is a "white witch".
Background
''The Resurrectionists'' w ...
'' by Kim Wilkins
Kim Wilkins (born 22 December 1966) is an Australian writer of popular fiction based in Brisbane, Queensland. She is the author of more than twenty-five mass-market novels, including her debut horror fiction, horror novel, ''The Infernal'' (19 ...
* The ''Brenda & Effie Mysteries'' series by Paul Magrs
Paul Magrs (pronounced "Mars"; born 12 November 1969) is a writer and lecturer. He was born in Jarrow, England, and now lives in Manchester with his partner, author and lecturer Jeremy Hoad.
Early life
Magrs was born in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, on ...
(consisting of ''Never the Bride'', ''Something Borrowed'', ''Conjugal Rites'', ''Hell's Belles'').
* ''Death at the Seaside'' by Frances Brody
Frances McNeil, also writing as Frances Brody, is an English novelist and playwright, and has written extensively for radio.
Early life
McNeil was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where she now lives. She studied at Ruskin College, Oxford and ha ...
Sport
Wind surfing, sailing and surfing take place off the beaches between Whitby and Sandsend
Sandsend is a small fishing village, near to Whitby in the Scarborough (borough), Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Civil parishes of England, civil parish of Lythe. It is the birthplace of fishing magnate ...
and the area is visited by divers. Whitby has various sports facilities including the town cricket and football pitches and tennis courts.
The Whitby Regatta takes place annually over three days in August. The competition between three rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
clubs – Whitby Friendship ARC, Whitby Fishermen's ARC and Scarborough ARC – forms the backbone of the weekend. The event has expanded to include a fair on the pier, demonstrations, fireworks and military displays – including the spectacle of the Red Arrows
The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams ...
aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...
display team of the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
.
Golfing facilities range from "pitch and putt" to Whitby Golf Club. The golf club formed in 1891 and has been at its current site, a 18-hole course situated on the cliff tops to the north-west of the town, in 1895.
Whitby Town F.C.
Whitby Town Football Club is an English football club based in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football. Founded in 1880, Whitby are one of the oldest clubs from the Nor ...
, formed in 1892, is a semi-professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club which plays in the Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
at the 3,200 capacity Turnbull Ground on Upgang Lane. England international footballer Beth Mead
Bethany Jane Mead (born 9 May 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Women's Super League club Arsenal and the England national team. A creative and prolific forward, she holds the all-time most assists a ...
was born in the town.
Whitby Cricket Club has been in existence since the 1920s and is located on Whitby's West Cliff, on the Turnbull Ground. Two senior Saturday teams compete in the North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League and a junior section play in the Derwent Valley Junior Cricket League.
Climate
The area generally has warm summers and relatively mild winters. Weather conditions vary from day to day as well as from season to season. Its latitude means that it is influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing unsettled and windy weather particularly in winter. Between depressions there are often small mobile anticyclone
An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from abov ...
s that bring periods of fine weather. In winter anticyclones bring cold dry weather. In summer the anticyclones tend to bring dry settled conditions which can lead to drought. The two dominant influences on the climate of the Whitby area are shelter against the worst of the moist westerly winds provided by the North York Moors and the proximity of the North Sea. Late, chilly springs and warm summers are a feature of the area but there are often spells of fine autumn weather. Onshore winds in spring and early summer bring mists or low stratus cloud
Stratus clouds are low-level clouds characterized by horizontal layering with a uniform base, as opposed to convective or cumuliform clouds that are formed by rising thermals. More specifically, the term ''stratus'' is used to describe flat, haz ...
s (known locally as sea frets) to the coast and moors.
On 5 January 2016 the town became "virtually cut off" after flash floods. North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authority of York in northern England. As of September 2018 the force had a strength of 1,357 police officers, 127 ...
warned on the night of 4 January that the town was only accessible through one route by 4x4 vehicles. It urged motorists to use "extreme caution" and avoid the area unless "absolutely necessary".
Demography
According to the 2011 UK census
A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...
, Whitby parish had a population of 13,213 living in 6,097 households.
In the 2001 UK census
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.
The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
of the total number of 5,973 homes 2,034 were rented and 3,939 were owner occupied.
Of the 5,506 economically active persons aged between 16 and 74, 420 were unemployed. The number of people working in the service industry was 4,113. Approximately 2,500 people were aged under 16, 8,400 were aged 16–64, and 2,700 aged 65 and over. The mean age of the population was 41.78 years. The number of people who travel to work by motorised transport is 3,134 but 2,190 households have no cars or vans.
Population change
Note: Between 1801 and 1925 Whitby comprised Whitby, Ruswarp and part of Hawsker civil parishes and (between 1894 and 1925) Helredale civil parish, all of which were merged on 1 April 1925 into the current Whitby area.
Twin towns
Whitby is twinned with a number of towns across the globe. Most were either visited by Captain Cook in ships that were built in Whitby – and one was named after Whitby by settlers from England.
* Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
, United States
* Porirua
Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...
, New Zealand
* Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a populat ...
* Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
, Canada
* Nukualofa, Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
* Kauai County, Hawaii
Kauai County ( haw, Kalana o Kauaʻi) (officially known as the County of Kauai) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Hawaii, Hawaii. It consists of the islands of Kauai, Kauai, Niʻihau, Niihau, Lehua, and Kaʻula, Kaula. As ...
, United States
* Osterode, Germany
See also
* Ship and boat building in Whitby
Ship and boat building in Whitby was a staple part of the industry of Whitby, North Yorkshire, England between the 17th and 19th centuries. In 1792 and 1793, Whitby was the second largest ship-building port in England and Wales. Building continu ...
* Whitby Rural District
Whitby Rural District was a rural district governed from Whitby for its surrounding area in the North Riding of Yorkshire administrative county from 1894 to 1974. The then township of Whitby was governed by the separate Whitby Urban District. ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
* Francis Kildale Robinson was also the compiler of ''A Glossary of Yorkshire Words and Phrases Collected in Whitby and the Neighbourhood''; by an Inhabitant; 1855.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Whitby Town Council
Mapping the Town
the history of Whitby, presented by Julian Richards (BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
) (RealAudio
RealAudio, or also spelled as Real Audio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fid ...
format)
*
{{Good article
Civil parishes in North Yorkshire
Fishing communities in England
Populated coastal places in North Yorkshire
Ports and harbours of Yorkshire
Port cities and towns in Yorkshire and the Humber
Seaside resorts in England
Towns in North Yorkshire
Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire
Beaches of North Yorkshire
Whaling in the United Kingdom