Scarborough

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historical and geographical information

 

 

 

  

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Introduction

 

Dates are in red.

Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.

Headlines are in brown.

References and citations are in turquoise.

Contextual history is in purple.

 

This webpage about the Scarborough has the following section headings:

 

 

The Farndales of Scarborough

 

The Farndales who lived at or were associated with Scarborough were Richard Findale (FAR00214), joiner of Falsgrave; The Scarborough 1 Line; John Findale (FAR00276); Elizabeth Findale (FAR00295); Thomas Farndale (FAR00344); Mary Farndale (FAR00349); Elizabeth Farndale (FAR00415); Annie Farndale (FAR00449); Thomas Farndale (FAR00525); Edith Annie Farndale (FAR00592); Frank Farndale (FAR00622); Albert Goodwill Farndale (FAR00623); Robert Alan B Farndale (FAR00896); The Scarborough 2 Line.

 

Scarborough

 

Scarborough is a town on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 3 and 70 m above sea level, rising steeply northward and westward from the harbour on to limestone cliffs. The older part of the town lies around the harbour and is protected by a rocky headland.

 

Scarborough has become the largest holiday resort on the Yorkshire coast. People who live in the town are known as Scarborians.

 

 

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Scarborough Timeline

 

Fourth century CE

 

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. 

 

The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: Remains of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages have been found here.

 

966 CE

 

The town was reportedly founded around 966 CE as Skarðaborg by Thorgils Skarthi, a Viking raider, though there is no archaeological evidence to support these claims.

 

The origin of this belief is a fragment of an Icelandic Saga. However any new settlement was soon burned to the ground by a rival band of Vikings under Tosti (Tostig Godwinson), 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. 

 

The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: A 13th century manuscript relates how in the 10th century a company of marauding Danes under Knut and Harold, sons of Gorm, defeated Adalbricht son of Adalmund at 'Skardaborg' and marched thence to York.

 

The original inland village of Falsgrave was also Saxon rather than Viking.

 

1066

 

The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: In 1066 Harold Hardraada in alliance with Earl Tosti, lord of Falsgrave, seized and burnt the castle, 'took to burn then one house after another, and then all the town gave itself up.'

 

1086

 

The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: Scarborough was not mentioned in the Survey of 1086.

 

1155

 

Scarborough recovered under King Henry II, who built an Angevin stone castle on the headland and granted the town charters in 1155 and 1163, permitting a market on the sands and establishing rule by burgesses. The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: Henry II, before 1163, granted to the burgesses of Scarborough all liberties enjoyed by the citizens of York, paying to the Crown as gabelage from each house 4d. or 6d. according as the gable or side faced the street.

 

Edward II granted Scarborough Castle to his favourite, Piers Gaveston. The castle was subsequently besieged by forces led by the barons Percy, Warenne, Clifford and Pembroke. Gaveston was captured and taken to Oxford and thence to Warwick Castle for execution.

 

The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: The earliest settlement, or 'aldborough,' lay beneath the castle near the harbour; it was walled by the time of King John. The wall ran from a moat on the north, by Auborough and Cross Street, to the sea; from this point the southern wall went east, along Merchants' Row, now Eastborough, to the castle dykes.

 

1253

 

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, 15 August, until Michaelmas Day, 29 September. The fair continued to be held for 500 years, from the 13th to the 18th century, and is commemorated in the song Scarborough Fair.

 

Scarborough Fair is a traditional English ballad (existing in more than one version) that hangs, in some versions at least, upon a possible visit by an unidentified person to the Yorkshire town of Scarborough. The song implies the tale of a man who instructs a third party to tell his former love, who lives in Scarborough, to perform for him a series of impossible tasks, such as making for him a shirt without a seam and no needlework and then washing it in a dry empty well, adding that if she were to complete these tasks he would take her back into his affections. Often the song is sung as a duet, with the woman then giving her sometime lover a series of equally impossible tasks, promising to give him his seamless shirt and her heart once he has finished. As the versions of the ballad known under the title "Scarborough Fair" are usually limited to the exchange of these impossible tasks, many suggestions concerning the plot have been proposed, including the hypothesis that it is about the Great Plague of the late Middle Ages. The lyrics of "Scarborough Fair" appear to have something in common with an obscure Scottish balladThe Elfin Knight by Francis James Child, which has been traced as far back as 1670 and may well be earlier. In this ballad, an elf threatens to abduct a young woman to be his lover unless she can perform an impossible task ("For thou must shape a sark to me / Without any cut or heme, quoth he"); she responds with a list of tasks that he must first perform ("I have an aiker of good ley-land / Which lyeth low by yon sea-strand").

 

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsleysagerosemary, and thyme;

Remember me to one who lives there,

For she was once a true love of mine.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

Without any seam or needlework,

Then she shall be a true love of mine.

 

Tell her to wash it in yonder well,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

Where never sprung water or rain ever fell,

And she shall be a true lover of mine.

Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

Which never bore blossom since Adam was born,

Then she shall be a true lover of mine.

 

Now he has asked me questions three,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

I hope he'll answer as many for me,

Before he shall be a true lover of mine.

Tell him to buy me an acre of land,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

Between the salt water and the sea sand,

Then he shall be a true lover of mine.

 

Tell him to plough it with a ram's horn,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

And sow it all over with one peppercorn,

And he shall be a true lover of mine.

Tell him to sheer't with a sickle of leather,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

And bind it up with a peacock's feather,

And he shall be a true lover of mine.

 

Tell him to thrash it on yonder wall,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme,

And never let one corn of it fall,

Then he shall be a true lover of mine.

When he has done and finished his work.

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme:

Oh, tell him to come and he'll have his shirt,

And he shall be a true lover of mine.

 

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Thirteenth century seal of the Borough of Scarborough

 

1318

 

In 1318, the town was burnt by the Scots, under Sir James Douglas following the Capture of Berwick upon Tweed.

 

1626

 

In 1626, 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.

 

1640

 

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.

 

1660

 

Dr Wittie's book about the spa waters published in 1660 attracted a flood of visitors to the town.

 

1735

 

Scarborough Spa became Britain's first seaside resort, though the first rolling bathing machines were not noted on the sands until 1735. It was a popular getaway destination for the wealthy of London, such as the bookseller Andrew Millar and his family. Their son Andrew junior died there in 1750.

 

1845

 

A young Malton architect, John Gibson, designed the Crown Spa Hotel, Scarborough's first purpose-built hotel. In 1841 a railway link between York and Scarborough was being talked of and he decided that the area above the popular Spa building could be developed. He designed and laid the foundations before passing the construction of this hotel to the newly formed South Cliff Building Company. On Tuesday, 10 June 1845 Scarborough's first hotel was opened: a marketing coup, as the Grand Hotel, soon to be Europe's largest, was not yet finished.

 

The coming of the Scarborough–York railway in 1845 increased the tide of visitors. Scarborough railway station claims a record for the world's longest platform seat. 

 

1857

 

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1862

 

The town has a fine Anglican church, St Martin-on-the-Hill, built in 1862–63 as the parish church of South Cliff. It contains works by Dante Gabriel RossettiWilliam MorrisEdward Burne-Jones and Ford Madox Brown.

 

1867

 

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. A blue plaque outside marks where the novelist Anne Brontë died in 1849. She was buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Church by the castle.

 

1880

 

From the 1880s until the First World War, Scarborough was one of the regular destinations for The Bass Excursions, when fifteen trains would take between 8,000 and 9,000 employees of Bass's Burton brewery on an annual trip to the seaside.

 

1916

 

During the First World War, the town was bombarded by German warships of the High Seas Fleet, an act which shocked the British (see Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby).

 

1923

 

The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: At the present day Scarborough occupies the neck of a lofty promontory which runs out to sea in a north-easterly direction, the extremity forming the castle rock. The portion of the town along the northern shore is of 19th-century growth, the old town occupying the southern slope.

 

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1929

 

In 1929 the steam drifter Ascendent caught a 560-pound (250 kg) tunny (Atlantic bluefin tuna) and a Scarborough showman awarded the crew 50 shillings so he could exhibit it as a tourist attraction. 

 

1930

 

Big-game tunny fishing off Scarborough effectively started in 1930 when Lorenzo "Lawrie" Mitchell–Henry, landed a tunny caught on rod and line weighing 560 pounds (250 kg). A gentlemen's club, the British Tunny Club, was founded in 1933 and set up its headquarters in the town at the place which is now a restaurant with the same name.

 

Scarborough became a resort for high society. A women's world tuna challenge cup was held for many years.

 

Colonel (and, later, Sir) Edward Peel landed a world-record tunny of 798 pounds (362 kg), capturing the record by 40 pounds (18.1 kg) from one caught off Nova Scotia by American champion Zane Grey. The British record which still stands is for a fish weighing 851 pounds (386 kg) caught off Scarborough in 1933 by Laurie Mitchell-Henry.

 

1993

 

On 5 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.

 

Scarborough has been affiliated with a number of Royal Navy vessels, including HMS ApolloHMS Fearless and HMS Duncan.

 

Falsgrave

 

Falsgrave is a suburb of Scarborough. Historically, the settlement of Falsgrave pre-dated the Domesday Book survey and was also the manor in the area, existing as the main administrative seat in the region long before the town of Scarborough developed. Gradually the settlement of Falsgrave became a suburb of Scarborough, and lies a little to the west of the town.

 

1069

 

During the Harrying of the North between 1069 and 1071, most of the Manor of Falsgrave was laid to waste, though to what extent is unknown especially in relation to the coastal areas.

 

1086

 

Falsgrave is recorded in the Domesday Book as being in the wapentake of Dic (later Pickering Lythe), with twenty villagers and belonging to King William, though at the Conquest, it was the property of Earl Morcar, who had ousted Tosti in 1065.

 

Domesday recorded the name as Walesgrif, which means Pit or hollow by the hill. The first part derives from Old Norse Hvalr (a personal name), and the second part is from the same language gryfia meaning pit.

 

The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: In 1086 Falsgrave (Walesgrif, xi cent.; Walsgrave, xii–xvi cent.; Waldegrave, xiv cent.; Walsgrave alias Falsgrave, xvii cent.) was land of the king, and with its berewick 'Nordfeld' was assessed at 15 carucates.

 

Tosti held a manor here before the Conquest; the value was then £56, and in 1086 30s. To the manor belonged the soke of Osgodby, Lebberston, Gristhorpe, 'Scagetorp,' 'Eterstorp,' 'Rodebestorp,' Filey, Burton, Depedale, West Ayton, Newton, Preston, Hutton, Marton, Wykeham, Ruston, 'Tornelai,' Stainton, Burniston, Scalby and Cloughton, in all 84 carucates of land, 1½ carucates in Stemanesbi (Newby), and 2 carucates in Hackness, Suffield and Everley.

 

1106

 

Around 1106, the area became part of what was known as the wapentake of Pickering Lythe.

 

1190

 

The soke of Falsgrave was still mentioned in 1190.

 

1201

 

Scarborough developed separately from Falsgrave, however in 1201, King John granted 60 acres of fields to the newer settlement from Falsgrave.

 

The Manor of Falsgrave was historically an extensive and important administrative manor in the area, with lands stretching as far north as Staintondale, as far south as Filey, and as far west as Wykeham (Steintun, Fieulac and Wicham respectively in the Domesday survey). The Manor of Falsgrave had 21 villages under its legal control (known as soke in Medieval times).

 

1256

 

In 1256, King Henry III enacted a charter that stated "..to the burgesses of Escardeburgh [Scarborough], the enlargement of the said borough, by adding the Manor of Whallesgrave [Falsgrave], with all the lands, pastures, mills, pools, and all other things to the same manor belonging..”

 

1296

 

The manor was granted to the burgesses of Scarborough in fee farm in 1256 and still belongs to them.

 

1351

 

In 1351 Edward III granted the warden and scholars of King's Hall, Cambridge, in fee £22 11s. of the farm. The £42 11s. afterwards paid by Scarborough to Trinity College, Cambridge, was confirmed to that foundation by Henry VIII.

 

1377

 

In 1377, King Richard II issued an edict so that Walesgrif would be annexed to the town of Scarborough, ceasing its status as a village, and eventually becoming a suburb of Scarborough.

 

In 1624, a bond was agreed between the town of Scarborough and one George Fletcher (a plumber) to maintain a steady flow of water from Falsgrave through a lead pipe to the town.

 

1648

 

During the English Civil War, the water pipe was plundered by soldiers and needed frequent replacement. During 1648, Falsgrave was where the Parliamentarian side gathered to besiege the Royalists in Scarborough Castle. They succeeded in December 1648.

 

1774

 

The nearby hills of Falsgrave Moor (or Common) were enclosed in 1774.

 

1873

 

The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 The borough of Scarborough, 1923: Falsgrave was formed into an ecclesiastical parish in 1873.

 

1914

 

In December 1914, during the First World War raid on Scarborough, several shells fire from German ships out at sea rained down on Falsgrave including the park. There were no reports of casualties, but many areas suffered significant damage.

 

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