Whitby

Whitby is a seaside town, port, and community in North Yorkshire, England. It sits at the mouth of the River Esk, where the North York Moors meet the Yorkshire Coast. The town is about 47 miles from York and 22 miles from Middlesbrough.

Historically, Whitby was important for fishing, especially for herring, and for whaling. It was here that famous explorer Captain Cook learned how to sail. The ship he used for his first big voyage, HMS Endeavour, was built in Whitby. The town also had mines for a special kind of rock called alum, and its unique jet jewellery was very popular in the 1800s.

Today, Whitby is a popular tourist spot. Tourism began during the Georgian time and grew after the railway arrived in 1839. The town's most famous landmark is the old abbey ruin on East Cliff. Other notable sights include the swing bridge over the River Esk and the harbour protected by east and west piers. Statues of Captain Cook and William Scoresby can be seen around town, and there is even a whale bone arch on West Cliff. Whitby is also well-known because it appeared in Bram Stoker's famous story, Dracula.

History

Whitby, once called Streoneshalh, means "Streon's nook of land." Its name today comes from the Domesday Book, meaning "Hvíta's farmstead."

A monastery was built there in 657 AD by King Oswiu or Oswy of Northumbria. It was a place for both men and women and an important learning center. The famous poet Cædmon lived there. Later, Vikings destroyed the monastery.

After the monastery was destroyed, the area was given to William de Percy, who built a new monastery. By the time the Domesday Book was written in 1086, Whitby was a small settlement.

Whitby grew as a port, especially with the trade of alum, an important substance for making cloth and leather. The town also became known for building ships and whaling. In 1764, the ship HMS Endeavour was built there, and it later explored new lands.

In the 1800s, railways helped Whitby become a popular place to visit. The town also became famous for its shiny black jet, used to make jewelry, especially after Queen Victoria wore it in mourning.

In the early 1900s, Whitby’s port stayed busy with fishing and some cargo ships. A marina was added in 1979.

Governance

Whitby’s local government has changed over time. In the past, special groups called boards helped manage the town. Today, the town is part of the larger North Yorkshire Council, which handles many services like schools and roads.

People in Whitby choose representatives to speak for them. In the UK Parliament, the town is part of the Scarborough and Whitby constituency. The town also has its own small council made up of local people who help take care of things like parks and street lights.

Religion

In Whitby, many people believe in Christianity. There are several churches, like St Mary's Church and St Ninian's. The town also has places for different kinds of worship and a special service for people who work on ships.

Geography

Whitby is a seaside town on the east coast of Yorkshire, facing the North Sea. It is in a deep valley where the River Esk meets the sea. The town has narrow, steep streets with houses made of brick or stone, often with red pantiled roofs.

Whitby is surrounded by the North York Moors National Park on one side and the North Sea on the other. The area is known for its tall cliffs and interesting rocks. You can find fossils, including dinosaur footprints, on the beach. These fossils have been important to the town's history.

Economy

Main article: Yorkshire coast fishery

Whitby’s economy is mostly supported by tourism and fishing. The town has limited transport and space for building, making it hard for other businesses to grow. Many people in the town work in fishing, tourism, and some manufacturing.

Whitby has many places to stay, like holiday cottages, campsites, and hotels. The town is famous for its fish and chips, with many places to enjoy them. There are also shops selling jet jewellery, which is popular with visitors. The harbour is busy with fishing boats and small ships, and you can find fresh fish there.

Whitby has a business park and a marina to help create more jobs. The town is also close to a big wind farm project on Dogger Bank, which could bring more work for supporting ships and equipment.

Transport

Port

Whitby's port is used for shipping to Europe, especially Scandinavia. It mainly handles grain, steel products, timber, and potash. Ships up to 3,000 tonnes can dock at the wharf, which can load or unload two ships at the same time. There is 54,000 square feet of dock space for storing cargo, along with a large warehouse.

Rail

Whitby station is the end point of the Esk Valley Line, operated by Northern. Since May 2021, the station has six trains each day (four on Sundays) going to and from Middlesbrough, with most trains going to or coming from Newcastle. To get to York or further south, you need to change trains several times, which can take a long time. A quicker and cheaper option is to take a bus to or from railway stations in Scarborough or York.

Whitby used to be the northern end of the Whitby, Pickering and York Line. In 2007, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway started a summer service on that line between Pickering and Whitby using steam locomotives, extending their existing service between Pickering and Grosmont.

Road

Whitby is located on the A171 road from Scarborough to Guisborough. This road used to pass over a swing bridge. In 1980, a high bridge was built over the Esk Valley to avoid the swing bridge and reduce traffic jams in the town centre. The A174 connects to coastal towns further north, and the A169 goes across the North Yorkshire Moors to Pickering.

Whitby is served by the Yorkshire Coastliner bus route from Leeds, York, Malton, and Pickering, with several buses each day. Arriva North East runs buses every hour between Whitby, Scarborough, and Middlesbrough. The Coastliner buses go to York railway station, while the Arriva X93 buses end at Scarborough railway station, offering another way to travel south instead of changing trains from Whitby.

Walking

The coastal part of the 110-mile Cleveland Way National Trail goes through Whitby.

Public services

Whitby has a community hospital updated in 2018. It includes an urgent care centre and 19 beds for patients staying overnight. The town has five family doctors and five dentists to help people stay healthy.

The town is served by ambulance services, a fire station that is open during the day, and two police stations. There is also a lifeboat station run by volunteers with two boats for sea safety. The town gets its water from the nearby River Esk and has services for collecting and recycling waste. Electricity and gas are provided by local utility companies.

Education

Whitby has schools for different age groups: primary, middle (ages 11–14), and Caedmon College (ages 11–19). Caedmon College was formed in 2014 by joining two older schools. Eskdale School is a middle school that is thinking about changing its age range to go up to age 16. In 2018, Caedmon College and Eskdale School decided to work together to offer a joint program for older students.

The primary schools in Whitby include 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. The North Yorkshire County Council takes care of education services. There is also a special school called the Whitby and District Fishing Industry Training School that helps people learn about the fishing industry, whether they are new or already have experience.

Caedmon College
Whitby Community College
Eskdale School

Landmarks

The swing bridge over the Esk River separates the upper and lower harbors and links the east and west sides of the town. Whitby became an important place because of this bridge. In 1351, people were allowed to collect money to keep the bridge safe. Over time, the bridge changed from a drawbridge to a stone bridge, and finally to the current electric swing bridge.

The bridge helped the town grow on the west bank. On the east bank, you can find St Mary's Church and the ruins of Whitby Abbey, which is cared for by English Heritage. St Mary's Church is very old, dating back to the 12th century, and still has some of its original features. The East Cliff is a little far by road, but you can climb the 199 steps called the "Church Stairs" or take a footpath named "Caedmon's Trod." The stone stairs were built about 200 years ago and fixed up between 2005 and 2006.

The harbor is protected by east and west piers, each with a lighthouse and a beacon. The west lighthouse, built in 1831, is taller at 84 feet, and the east lighthouse, built in 1855, is 54 feet high. On the west pier, there is a foghorn that makes a sound every 30 seconds when there is fog. New lights were added to the lighthouses and beacons in 2011. Whitby Lighthouse, run by Trinity House, is southeast of the town on Ling Hill.

On the West Cliff, there is a statue of Captain James Cook, who learned his skills in the town, and a whale bone arch that reminds us of the whaling industry. By the inner harbor, there is a statue for William Scoresby Sr., who helped design the crow's nest.

Not far from the town to the west is the 19th-century Sneaton Castle, built by James Wilson. Next to it is St Hilda's Priory, which is linked to the Order of the Holy Paraclete. The castle was once a school but is now a place for meetings and a hotel together with the priory.

Culture and media

Frank Meadow Sutcliffe took many photographs of Whitby in the late-Victorian times. His famous photo called "Water Rats" was taken in 1886. He became well-known for his photography and won many awards. After retiring in 1922, he worked at Whitby Museum, where his photos are kept today.

Pannett Park was created in 1902 thanks to a kind local leader, Robert Pannett. After his death, a trust turned the land into a public park and art gallery. In 1931, Whitby Museum was built behind the gallery. It shows the history of jet and has a special item called the "Hand of Glory" on display. A group called the Friends of Pannett Park helped improve the park in 2005.

Whitby has had a lifeboat since 1802. An old boathouse from 1895 now serves as a museum, showing a lifeboat named Robert and Ellen Robson from 1919.

A special ceremony called the Penny Hedge happens each year on the night before Ascension Day. It remembers an old punishment from the Middle Ages. The hunters had to cut wood and make a hedge at the harbor.

The Whitby Gazette newspaper started in 1854. It began by listing visitors and lodgings but became a weekly newspaper in 1858. Local radio stations include BBC Radio Tees, This is The Coast, and Coast & County Radio.

The Pavilion Theatre, built in the 1870s, hosts many events in the summer. Whitby has hosted Whitby Folk Week for over forty years and, since 1993, the Whitby Goth Weekend for fans of the Goth subculture. "Whitby Now" is an annual music event for local bands, started in 1991. The Bram Stoker Film Festival has been held every October since 2008.

The town has a rich literary history. Cædmon, the first known Anglo Saxon poet, was a monk at Whitby Abbey. Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula includes scenes set in Whitby. Elizabeth Gaskell and Lewis Carroll also visited and wrote about the town. Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins stayed in Whitby and wrote about their experiences there. Many authors, including G. P. Taylor and Theresa Tomlinson, live or have set stories in Whitby.

Author Robin Jarvis fell in love with Whitby and set his The Whitby Witches trilogy there, using local legends in his stories. He returned for his 2016 novel, The Power of Dark.

Sport

People enjoy wind surfing, sailing, and surfing near the beaches between Whitby and Sandsend. The area is also good for diving. Whitby has many sports places, including cricket and football fields, and tennis courts.

The Whitby Regatta happens every year for three days in August. The main event is a rowing competition between Whitby Friendship, Whitby Fishermen's, and Scarborough amateur rowing clubs.

Whitby Golf Club started in 1891 and has an 18-hole course on the cliffs northwest of the town since 1895.

Whitby Town F.C., formed in 1892, is a semi-professional football club that plays in the Northern Premier League at its Turnbull Ground on Upgang Lane.

Whitby Cricket Club has existed since the 1920s and plays at the Turnbull Ground on West Cliff. Two senior teams compete in the North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League, and there is also a junior section in the Derwent Valley Junior Cricket League.

Climate

Whitby usually has warm summers and mild winters. The weather changes often, especially with windy days in winter. The North York Moors and the North Sea help protect the town from strong winds. Spring can be cool, summer is usually warm, and autumn often has nice, clear weather. Sometimes, winds from the sea bring fog or low clouds to the coast.

Demography

Main article: Demographics of Tees Valley

In 2011, about 13,200 people lived in Whitby in roughly 6,100 homes. Many of these homes were owned by the people living there, and some were rented. About 4,100 people had jobs in services like shops and offices. There were also many people who were not working or were looking for jobs.

The town had people of different ages, including many young children, adults, and older people. The average age was about 42 years old. Some people drove to work, but many homes did not have cars.

Population change

Note: Between 1801 and 1925 Whitby included 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.

Notable people

For a complete list, see Category:People from Whitby.

Whitby has been home to many interesting people.

• Samuel Barnett (1980–), actor
• William Bateson (1861–1926), a scientist who studied genes, was born in Whitby
• Arthur Brown (1942–), a musician known for leading The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
• William Clarkson (1859–1934), who helped start the Royal Australian Navy
• Hilda of Whitby (about 614 – 680), an important saint in early British history
• Adam Lyth (1987–), a cricket player chosen to open for England in the 2015 Ashes series
• Beth Mead (1995–), an England footballer born in the town
• David Mills (footballer) (1951–), a former player now working as a scout
• Mark Richardson (1970–), a drummer who grew up in Whitby

Twin towns

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the United Kingdom

Whitby has several twin towns. These include:

• Anchorage, Alaska, United States
• Porirua, New Zealand
• Stanley, Falkland Islands
• Whitby, Canada
• Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
• Kauaʻi County, Hawaii
• Osterode, Germany