Scarborough

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This article is on the English seaside resort. For other uses see Scarborough (disambiguation).
Scarborough
Image:dot4gb.svg
Statistics
Population: 50,135[1]
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference: TA040880
Administration
District: Scarborough
Shire county: North Yorkshire
Region: Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituent country: England
Sovereign state: United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county: North Yorkshire
Historic county: Yorkshire (North Riding)
Services
Police force: North Yorkshire Police
Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}}
Ambulance: Yorkshire
Post office and telephone
Post town: SCARBOROUGH
Postal district: YO11
Dialling code: 01723
Politics
UK Parliament: Scarborough and Whitby
European Parliament: Yorkshire and the Humber
The South Bay at Scarborough
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The South Bay at Scarborough
The North Bay at Scarborough
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The North Bay at Scarborough
Scarborough Lighthouse
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Scarborough Lighthouse
Spa Bridge (footbridge), Scarborough
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Spa Bridge (footbridge), Scarborough
The Grand Hotel at Scarborough
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The Grand Hotel at Scarborough
Scarborough Castle Keep
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Scarborough Castle Keep

Scarborough is a town located on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England. The modern town lies 30 to 70 metres above sea level, on limestone cliffs. The older part of the town lies around the harbour and is protected by a rocky headland. It is served by Scarborough railway station with services from York on the North TransPennine route and Hull on the Yorkshire Coast Line.

Scarborough has a population of around 50,000, and is the major holiday resort of the Yorkshire Coast. It is home to residential communities, business, fishing and service industries plus a burgeoning digital and creative economy.

The town has a North Bay and a South Bay. The South Bay is the main focus and contains many arcades and entertainment facilities and is overlooked by the town itself — a vibrant shopping centre. The North Bay has traditionally been 'the quiet end' of the resort and is home to Peasholm Park which has recently been granted funding to be restored to its Japanese-themed glory. The park still features a mock maritime battle (based on the Battle of the River Plate) re-enacted on the boating lake with large model boats and fireworks throughout the summer holiday season. The North Bay Railway is a miniature railway which runs from the park to the Sea Life Centre at Scalby Mills.

The North Bay is linked to the South Bay by an impressive Victorian promenade, built around the headland and soon to be home to the controversial large-scale sculpture The Wave, consisting of "21 steel members, each element a deconstructed section of a wave, which when viewed as an overall composition recreates the wave cycle". Overlooking both bays is Scarborough Castle, which was bombarded by the German warships Derfflinger and von der Tann in the First World War. Both bays have excellent sandy beaches and some superb rock-pooling opportunities at low tide.

Slightly less well known is the South Cliff Promenade situated above the Spa and South Cliff gardens, affording stunning views of the South Bay and old town. Its Victorian splendour is still intact and the mix of quality hotels and desirable apartments form the backdrop to the ITV drama The Royal which can often be seen filming in the area. The South Bay has the largest illuminated "Star Disk" anywhere in the UK. It is 26 metres across and is fitted with subterranean lights representing the 42 brightest stars and major constellations that can be seen from Scarborough in the northern skies.

Contents

[edit] History

The town was founded around 966 AD as Skarðaborg by Thorgils Skarthi, a Viking raider, though in the 4th century there had briefly been a Roman signal station on Scarborough Headland, and there is evidence of much earlier stone age and bronze age settlements. However, the new settlement was soon burned to the ground by a rival band of Vikings under Tosti, Lord of Falsgrave, and Harald III of Norway. The destruction and massacre meant that very little remained to be recorded in the Domesday survey of 1085. Scarborough recovered under King Henry II who built a stone castle on the headland, and granted charters in 1155 and 1163, permitting a market on the sands, and establishing rule by Burgesses.

Edward II gave Scarborough Castle to his favourite, Piers Gaveston. In his castle at Scarborough Gaveston was besieged by the barons, captured and carried to Oxford for execution.

In the Middle Ages Scarborough Fair, permitted in a royal charter of 1253, held a six-week trading festival attracting merchants from all over Europe. It ran from Assumption Day, the 15th of August, until Michaelmas Day, the 29thSeptember. The Fair continued to be held for 500 years, from the eleventh to the eighteenth century, and is commemorated in the song "Scarborough Fair":

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
—parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...".

Scarborough and its Castle changed hands seven times between royalists and parliamentarians during the English Civil War, of the 1640s, enduring two lengthy and violent sieges. Following the civil war much of the town lay in ruins.

In 1626, Mrs Elizabeth Farrow discovered a stream of acidic water running from one of the cliffs to the south of the town. This gave birth to Scarborough Spa, and Dr Wittie's book about the Spa waters published in 1660 attracted a flood of visitors to the town. Scarborough Spa became Britain's first seaside resort, though the first rolling bathing machines were not noted on the sands until 1735. The coming of the Scarborough-York railway in 1845 increased the tide of visitors.

When the Grand Hotel was completed in 1867 it was one of the largest hotels in the world and one of the first giant purpose built hotels in Europe. Four towers represent the seasons, 12 floors represent the months, 52 chimneys represent the weeks and originally 365 bedrooms represented the days of the year.

During World War I, the town was bombarded by German warships of the High Seas Fleet, an act which shocked the British.

In June 1993 Scarborough made headlines around the world when a landslip caused part of the Holbeck Hall Hotel, along with its gardens, to fall into the sea. Although the slip was shored up with rocks, and the land has long since grassed over, evidence of the cliff's collapse remains clearly visible from the Esplanade, near Shuttleworth Gardens.

Modern Scarborough has a high Latter-day Saints population and there is a Church of the Latter-day Saints situated in the town.

[edit] Culture

Dramatist Alan Ayckbourn is based in Scarborough where he has lived for a number of years. He has produced some sixty plays in Scarborough and is the artistic director of the famous Stephen Joseph Theatre, where almost all his plays receive their first performance. The town also plays host to the annual National Student Drama Festival, which takes place at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, the Spa Centre and other venues around the town.

The area is also home to hundreds of "artists" working in a wide variety of media and boasts several galleries. The presence of the University of Hull Digital Arts and Yorkshire Coast College's Arts provision in the town help fuel a vibrant music and arts scene.

Arts, business and education collaborate every year to produce Digital Scarborough - a celeberation of the town's digital activities including a wide range of events from business networking to film showings and gigs with dj's and vj's.

The town is home to a significant jazz festival each September and an eclectic rock and pop festival on the beach in the summer which features at least 50% local talent alongside internationally known artistes. In Summer 2005 Scarborough played host to the Sonic Arts Network Expo featuring cutting edge performances and installations.

These fairly recent developments married to a long established museum and visual arts provision hint at Scarborough's desire to re-invent itself as a creative and arts-based town. In 2006 work started on Wood End Museum - former home to the The Sitwells - to convert it into a creative centre including workspace for artists and the digital cluster plus an exhibition space. The town's Rotunda Museum is currently undergoing a £multi-million redevelopment that will see it become a national centre for geology.

The films Little Voice and A Chorus of Disapproval were filmed on location in Scarborough and the surrounding area. [1][2]

[edit] Education

The town has a small higher education institution, the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus, (formerly North Riding College and University College Scarborough) and is home to Yorkshire Coast College and Scarborough Sixth Form College. The five main public secondary schools in Scarborough are Graham School, Raincliffe School, Scalby School, Pindar School and St. Augustine's Catholic School. There are also two private schools, Scarborough College (from 3yrs to 18yrs) and Bramcote (from 7yrs to 13yrs). Scarborough College recently abolished A-levels and next year will go over to the International Baccalaureate (IB).

Education in Scarborough is notable for its commitment to the digital economy with 2006 seeing the formation of the University of Hull's School of Arts and New Media at the Scarborough Campus. Scarborough is the UK mainland's first wireless campus.

[edit] Sport

The Scarborough Amateur Rowing Club was founded in May 1869, and is the oldest surviving Rowing Club on the North East Coast. For more than 100 years sea rowing has taken place on the Yorkshire coast between the Tees and the Humber, beginning with friendly rivalry between the fisherman and the jet miners from Blyth (sometimes known as the German Ocean Race) the sport has progressed to what it is today. Rowing takes place throughout the summer months.

Scarborough Football Club was the first team to be promoted into the league after the dismissal of a rule stating that teams in the league could choose whether or not the team having come top of what is now the Conference should be promoted. Scarborough Football Club was then relegated from Division 3, (now Coca-Cola league 2) in 2001. They were then relegated from the Conference down to the Conference North in 2006. One of their greatest achievements was winning the FA trophy at Wembley stadium. Their best achievement in the FA cup was in January 2004, when they played Chelsea in the 4th round. They lost this match 1-0, with John Terry scoring the goal from a header.

[edit] Famous residents and ex-residents

[edit] References

  1. ^ Scarborough Borough Council, 2001 census information

[edit] External links

[edit] Photographic links

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