Although the mammoth 45 day event that was Scarborough Fair, which began on August 15th and once attracted visitors from all over Europe, is now commemorated only by a number of low key celebrations which take place in September, the town remains one of great interest. Scarborough’s impressive North Sea location, prominent medieval castle, beaches, surf and traditional seaside entertainment are just some of the many attractions. The town also attracts fans of the famous writer Anne Bronte who is buried in the pretty churchyard overlooked by Scarborough Castle.
The most famous of the Scarborough area’s earliest inhabitants is on display at the town’s Rotunda Museum. Known as Gristhorpe Man, his resting place was discovered in 1834; the best preserved oak tree burial ever recovered from the Bronze Age. This find, together with the records of the Roman signal station build on the headland at Scarborough, suggest that even in antiquity this coastline was an important place. Around 370 AD the signal torches at Scarborough were lit to warn the Roman forces that Saxons had been sighted off the coast.
However, it is the Danes who are credited with founding Scarborough in the 10th century. The Viking Thorgil, nicknamed Skarthi meaning hare-lip, settled here with a group of followers in 966 AD. The town takes its name from Skarthi’s burgh meaning Fort of Scarthi. One hundred years later the forces of another Viking King, Hardrada of Norway, burnt the town down, including a little chapel built in 1000, as part of his campaign to claim the English throne from the Saxon King Harold. Although the campaign eventually fell apart after the Norse defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, which left Hardrada dead, losses for the Saxons in the conflict lessened their ability to resist another claimant, King William of Normandy, who conquered England later in 1066.
The town quickly recovered from these setbacks and received a charter from King Henry I in 1100. In 1125, St Mary’s Church was built and, in 1136, the building of Scarborough’s castle was underway. The castle’s keep, which still stands, was built in 1158. The garrisons stationed in Scarborough provided a market for craftsmen who began to flock to the town. Later social welfare was to be provided by monks, when a number of religious orders were established in the town.
All of this hustle and bustle no doubt contributed to the establishment of the famous fair in 1253. The event was not what we might think of as a fair today. Although there was entertainment provided by the likes of jugglers and jesters, fairs were primarily markets, which attracted visitors from a wide area, in the case of Scarborough from across the continent. In Scarborough the fair was exceptionally long. It ran for 45 days commencing on the 15th of August, and no doubt transformed the town, swelling the normal 2,500 population many times.
The fourteenth century saw a period of decline in the fortunes of the town. Scarborough was attacked by enemies of Edward II’s lover, Piers de Gaveston in 1314, who was forced to surrender the castle after a short siege (after which he was executed at Dedington Castle) and by the famed Scottish King Robert the Bruce in 1318. The population was also devastated by outbreaks of the Black Death, the appearance of which also undermined the important trade out of the town’s port. From then on Scarborough suffered increasingly from competition from the port at Hull. Scarborough’s castle also fell into decline with the invention of gunpowder and the increasing use of cannons, which were making its fortifications obsolete. When Henry VIII closed the town’s friaries in the 1530s this was another blow to Scarborough.
In the 17th century Scarborough would have something of a renaissance. This was for two main reasons. Firstly, the proximity of the Scarborough to the burgeoning coal industry at Newcastle encouraged the development of the port, as local ships became increasingly used to transport the coal around the country. Secondly, the discovery of spa water running from the bottom of Scarborough’s cliffs by Mrs Farrer, led to the first tourist boom in the area. People from all over Yorkshire began to arrive believing the iron rich water could provide some relief from all manner of diseases. When, in the following century, Dr Richard Russell claimed in his popular book that bathing in sea water was beneficial to one’s heath, Scarborough’s destiny as a seaside retreat was assured.
In the 19th century the famous writer, Anne Bronte, came to Scarborough to convalesce after a long illness. Alas, she was not to recover and died in 1849. She was subsequently buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Scarborough. The churchyard has become a place of pilgrimage for fans of the books ‘Agnes Grey’ and ‘The Tennant of Wildfell Hall’, which is considered to be one of the first feminist novels.
Scarborough has grown as a seaside resort since the time of Anne Bronte and has more to offer the visitor that ever before. Its fine cafes, restaurants, amusement arcades, clean and safe beaches, ancient castle and beautiful seafront combine, with its many other charms, to make Scarborough a very attractive desitination.
