Runswick Bay is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

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. It is also the name of a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

located on the western edge of the bay (although the village is sometimes shortened to Runswick on UK road signs). It is north of

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 Cl ...

, and close to the villages of Ellerby and Hinderwell. It is a popular tourist attraction due to its picturesque cliffside village, stunning coastal walks, fossil hunting and ''Runswick Sands'', a white sand

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc s ...

. It is on 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. Runswick Bay was chosen as Beach of the Year 2020 by ''The Sunday Times''. Runswick Bay MMB 01

History

The original

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

was almost completely destroyed by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environmen ...

in 1682. Remarkably, there were no fatalities, as the village was alerted by two mourners at a wake. The village was rebuilt, slightly further to the south, perched on the side of cliffs. Runswick Bay MMB 11

The village ran its own lifeboat from 1866, until it was moved to the

RNLI 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 ...

station at

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 1978. The boathouse still remains, and has run its own volunteer rescue boat service since 1982. In the late 1880s, Runswick Bay was the site of an

art colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

. The village is located within the Parish of Hinderwell, which at the 2011 census, had a population of 1,875 people.

Geography

On the north side of the bay is Cauldron Cliff, and the

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, J ...

on the south side is known as

Kettleness Kettleness, is a hamlet in the Scarborough District of North Yorkshire, England. The settlement only consists of half-a-dozen houses, but up until the early 19th century, it was a much larger village. However, most of that village, which was on ...

, site of

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 ...

mining from 1727 until the late 1800s. Around the edge of the bay is a white sand beach called ''Runswick Sands'', and a series of caves. The largest cave on the bay, ''

Hob Hole The Hob Holes are caves in the cliffs of Runswick Bay which resulted from mining for jet – fossilised wood which is valuable as a gemstone. A hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered help ...

'', was so named as it was believed to be the home of a 'Hob' (or

Boggart A boggart is a creature in English folklore, either a household spirit or a malevolent ''genius loci'' (that is, a geographically-defined spirit) inhabiting fields, marshes, or other topographical features. Other names of this group include ''bu ...

) in local

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...

. The bay is long. A

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...

, made of large boulders, was completed in 1970. Like other parts of the Yorkshire Coast, the area suffers from a high degree of

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwar ...

which has made it a popular location for

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 ...

hunting.

A number of local

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

s drain into the bay across ''Runswick Sands''; from West to East: ''Nettle Dale'', ''Dunsley Dale'', ''Calais Beck'' and ''Widgeytoft Gill''. Runswick Bay village covers an area of 620

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

s and has a peak seasonal population of 2,315, though permanent residence is low with a high degree of houses being holiday lets and second homes. It is split into two parts, the 'lower' red-roofed, cliff-side, former-fishing village, and ''Runswick Bank Top'', a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

located adjacent to farmland overlooking the bay, built around the intersection of the roads leading to Ellerby and Hinderwell. The ''Bank Top'' village contains a

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

and Caravan site, a hotel and modern housing developments. The two parts of the village are joined via a steep lane which is part of the ''

,'' with the beach located at the bottom of the lane. The ''Lower'' village of Runswick Bay is densely packed with narrow winding streets and steep steps. It is largely inaccessible to traffic accessed only by a 1 in 4 gradient road. Key buildings include the old lifeboat station, and a thatched cottage which is a Grade II

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 ...

. There is a sailing club, a pub, one car park, holiday cottages to rent, public toilets and a beachside cafe. There are no disabled facilities and due to the uneven slopes access can be difficult A £2.28 million pound award-winning coastal erosion protection scheme was completed in 2018 to protect the village for another 100 years.

References

External links

{{Navboxes , list1 = {{Coastal settlements , place = North Yorkshire , settlement = Runswick Bay , anticlockwise = Port Mulgrave , clockwise =

{{The Yorkshire coast {{North Yorkshire {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Populated coastal places in North Yorkshire Fishing communities in England