Town in North Yorkshire, England
Scarborough
A woman sipping spring water here in the 1620s helped invent the British seaside holiday. Three centuries later German warships shelled the town.
Key information
- County
- North Yorkshire
- Nation
- England
- Known for
- Britain's first seaside resort, Scarborough Fair, the castle headland, two bays and the Grand Hotel
- What locals are called
- Scarborians
- Famous people
- Charles Laughton, Anne Brontë (buried here), Alan Ayckbourn (theatre director)
About Scarborough
The spring that started a holiday habit
Scarborough has a good claim to be Britain's first seaside resort, and it began with a taste test. Around 1626 a local woman, Mrs Elizabeth Farrow, noticed that a stream running out of the cliff below the South Cliff had a mineral tang. People soon came to drink the water. In 1660 Dr Robert Wittie published a book praising the Scarborough spa waters. Visitors followed in growing numbers, and by the 1730s they were also bathing in the sea itself, with bathing machines on the sands. That is why Scarborough is often called the Queen of Watering Places. The Spa buildings still stand by the South Bay, and cliff lifts have carried visitors up and down the slope since the 1870s.
Two bays, one headland and a very old castle
The town is split in two by a great rocky headland. On one side is the South Bay, with the harbour, the amusements and the fish and chip shops. On the other is the quieter North Bay. On top of the headland sits Scarborough Castle. The site was used by the Romans as a signal station, and Henry II built the great keep in the twelfth century. The castle was besieged during the Civil War, and its walls still carry the damage. The town's name is Norse in origin. The story goes that a Viking called Skarthi, nicknamed Harelip, set up a fortified place here in the tenth century. Skarthi's burg became Scarborough. The town has even given English a proverb. A "Scarborough warning" means a warning that comes too late, or no warning at all.
The fair that lasted for 45 days
Long before the seaside crowds, Scarborough was famous for its fair. Granted a charter by Henry III in 1253, it ran for 45 days, starting around the Assumption in mid-August. Merchants came from across Britain and beyond. The fair lives on in the folk ballad that asks if you are going to Scarborough Fair, with its parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 version made it known worldwide. Two of the town's best-loved stories are the fair and the spa. Both depended on people travelling a long way to this stretch of coast.
The morning in 1914 when the war arrived
On 16 December 1914, German warships shelled Scarborough from the sea. Seventeen people died in the town, and the attack also hit Hartlepool and Whitby. Houses, shops and the Grand Hotel were damaged. The raid shocked Britain, which had not expected civilians at the seaside to be attacked. Recruitment posters told people to "Remember Scarborough". The Grand Hotel survived. Cuthbert Brodrick designed it, and it opened in 1867 as one of Europe's largest hotels. The tale often told is that its design follows the calendar, with four towers for the seasons, twelve floors for the months and fifty-two chimneys for the weeks.
Brontë, Laughton and the theatre in the round
Anne Brontë came to Scarborough hoping the sea air would help her illness. She died here on 28 May 1849 and is buried in St Mary's churchyard, below the castle. Her grave is a place of pilgrimage for Brontë fans. The actor Charles Laughton was born in Scarborough in 1899. He won an Oscar for playing Henry VIII. Theatre is a Scarborough speciality. The Stephen Joseph Theatre, which stages plays in the round, is linked above all with Alan Ayckbourn. He was its artistic director from 1972 to 2009 and premiered most of his plays here before they reached the West End.
Toy battleships, cricket and fish and chips
Peasholm Park opened in 1912 and is best known for its miniature naval battles. Since 1927, large model warships have fought on the lake, several of them operated by people hidden inside, as crowds watch from the shore. The town's cricket ground at North Marine Road hosts the Scarborough Cricket Festival, a late-summer tradition for Yorkshire fans. Motorcycle road racing at Oliver's Mount adds more noise to the sporting calendar. For football, Scarborough Athletic carries the town's name. The old Scarborough FC were in the Football League from 1987 to 1999. Then there is the food. Fish and chips are the obvious choice, but the harbour also sells fresh crab and local kippers.
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