UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND

England

Region: Yorkshire and the Humber

Shire County: North Yorkshire

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Scarborough is located on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England. The modern town lies between 3–70 m above sea level, rising steeply northward and westward from the harbour onto limestone cliffs. The older part of the town lies around the harbour and is protected by a rocky headland. With a population of around 50,000, Scarborough is the largest holiday resort on the Yorkshire coast.

The town was founded around 966 AD as Skarðaborg by Viking raiders, 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. 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, 15 August, until Michaelmas Day, 29 September. The fair continued to be held for 500 years, from the 13th century to the 18th century, and is commemorated in the song Scarborough Fair. 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, a stream of acidic water running from one of the cliffs to the south of the town was discovered. This gave birth to Scarborough Spa, and a 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. During World War I, the town was bombarded by German warships of the High Seas Fleet, an act which shocked the British. Scarborough is one of Yorkshire's 'renaissance towns', having been granted government support for securing a vibrant future. As a result there are many building projects to renovate classic Victorian buildings and quality contemporary architecture. [Text adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough,_North_Yorkshire]

The Grand Hotel [left] overlooks the town's South Bay. It is now a Grade II* listed building. The hotel was designed by the Hull architect Cuthbert Brodrick, and when completed in 1867 was one of the largest hotels in the world, as well as one of the first giant purpose-built hotels in Europe. The building is designed around the theme of time: four towers to represent the seasons, 12 floors for the months of the year, 52 chimneys symbolise the weeks, and originally there were 365 bedrooms, one for each day of the year. The hotel itself is in the shape of a 'V' in honour of Queen Victoria. The hotel's heyday was arguably during Victorian times, when wealthy holidaymakers made up the establishment's clientele. As Scarborough was a famous spa town, the building's baths originally included an extra pair of taps, so guests could wash in seawater as well as fresh. The hotel was badly damaged when the German Navy bombarded the town in 1914. Nowadays, the hotel caters towards the budget end of the spectrum. [Text adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Hotel_(Scarborough)]