Scarborough has long been one of the most ancient and respectable of sea bathing places in Great Britain. Known as the Queen of the English Watering Places and famous in the 17th and 18th centuries for its Medicinal Springs discovered in 1626 by Mrs Elizabeth Farrer. This natural spring and its health giving properties soon attracted a pilgrimage of wealthy people to this new Spa. While they were in the town they could bathe in the sea and be cured of all manners of illnesses according to eminent doctors of the day. The development of the town proceeded rapidly. In 1804 the bathing infirmary was opened, the Cliff Bridge was built in 1826 allowing easy access to the town and by the 1850's the railway had arrived. By the late 19th century there was a Pier and Warwick's Tower in the North Bay, sadly, like many North Bay projects neither one survived.
The first proposal to build a pier in Scarborough came in 1864, when a syndicate of Manchester businessmen sought to erect a pier close to the harbour in South Bay. This scheme failed due to the combined efforts of local opposition and the Board of Trade, who decided the pier would be a hazard to navigation and shipping in general. With this background it was an ambitious, and expensive, move to construct a pier in North Bay, which was then a barren outpost compared with today. The initial cost of the contract was £12,135. The leader of the enterprise was J W Woodall, a past master of Old Globe and a partner in Woodhall and Hebden's Bank who financed the project. The pier itself was 1000 feet in length and 23 feet wide up to the pier head, which were 140 long by 50 feet wide.
| The first pile was driven on 14 September 1866 then for more than two years the contractors, Dawson, Head and Wrightson of Stockton-on-Tees, pushed out their cast-iron columns into the unfriendly waters of North Bay. Fifteen months was the scheduled time for the construction but it was a little over two years and seven months before the first patrons were admitted on 1 May 1869 at a cost of one
penny |
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Keen anglers were allowed to fish all the year round at a cost of ten shillings. Initially permission was given for steamers to call at the pier head but in a swell the vessels began to cause damage when coming alongside and reluctantly they were forbidden to call. In 1883 the steam trawler Star ran into the pier and knocked down a couple of the pillars. Within three weeks the steamer Hardwick emulated this feat of navigation and a December gale washed the bandstand clear off the pier head. Further damage occurred when the yacht Escalpa crashed through it. Financially it was a disaster and eventually the affairs of the company were wound up in 1888.
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One shareholder actually suggested giving the pier to the corporation if the local authority would pay off the mortgage. Walter Hudson of London eventually purchased it for £1,240. He formed the North Pier Company and spent £10,000 on repairs and improvements but still failed to make it pay. |
The last owner was the then Mayor, William Morgan, who acquired it for £3,500 in 1904. The pier was damaged beyond economical repair on the night of Friday 6 January 1905 by a severe north-west gale, accompanied by extremely heavy seas and an exceptionally high-tide. As the pier was not covered by insurance it was not replaced and eventually demolished.
Warwick's Tower was situated in the grounds of the Castle-by-the-Sea,
formerly owned by John
Atkinson Grimshaw, on Castle Hill. It was 155 feet high and 15 feet in diameter. The observation car was 30 feet in diameter and able to accommodate 200 people hauled to the top by four steel cables driven by a 75 HP steam engine. The tower was opened to the public 30 July 1898, however local opinion did not favour the tower, which soon became to be regarded as an eyesore. After its initial success it lost popularity both with the paying public and its owner and quickly degenerated into disrepair.
| The council refused to pay for its demolition and eventually a wealthy resident, Mr. Alfred Shuttleworth of the Red Court Hotel on the Esplanade, bought the tower and had it demolished in December 1906. This act was seen as a display of great public-spirited generosity. |
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Scarborough developed basically into a resort of two parts. The South Bay was the most popular part of the town where the majority of the hotels and other seaside facilities were situated.
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The North Bay had few facilities, even when the pier was built there were only a few made up roads making access difficult.
Nowadays Scarborough is a breezy North Sea resort, which combines castle ruins, a lovely harbour with a now small but a vibrant fishing industry, luxury hotels, guesthouses, beautiful gardens and long wave swept promenades with a variety of amusement and entertainment
centre's. It is also home to Alan Ayckbourn's Theatre in the Round. It is a town of two bays separated by the castle headland, a popular place for retirement or a second home. Scarborough is built below and on top of a cliff, with steep streets and footpaths. On the south side there are two lifts connecting the different levels. The
castle ruins stand on a narrow headland, on which was earlier an Ancient Briton camp and Roman signal station. During the First World War, on 16 December 1914, units of the German Grand Fleet shelled the castle and town causing widespread damage killing 19 people.
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The castle, a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War, looks down upon the medieval red roofed town built around the harbour.
The splendid Marine Drive and promenade follow the base of the castle promontory and the wide curve of North Bay. There is a matchless view over South Bay from Oliver's Mount; a 500-foot high hill, on which is situated the War Memorial obelisk.
Anne Bronte is buried in the hillside churchyard of
St
Mary's, built in the early 12th century, just below the castle walls. When the weather is fair you could not find a nicer place. |
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