Whitby Town FC - The Seasiders

The name Streoneshalh is thought to signify Fort Bay or Tower Bay in reference to a supposed Roman settlement that previously existed on the site. This contention has never been proven though and alternate theories have been proposed, such as the name meaning Streona's settlement; a reference to Eadric Streona. This is highly unlikely though due to chronological considerations: Streona died in 1017 so the naming of Streoneshalh would have preceded his birth by several hundred years. It is also thought that there was a Roman signal station on the East Cliff. This linked up with Ravenscar to the south and Goldsborough to the north.

The Abbey that stands on the east cliff was founded by King Oswry of Northumbria in 658AD, and was the meeting place of the Synod of Whitby in 664AD which decided to adopt the Roman form of Christianity rather than the Celtic form in Britain. St Hilda was the abbess during the Synod. It was destroyed by the Danes in 867.

Caedmon, the earliest known English poet, was born in Whitby. He was a cowherd at the monastery and he was commanded to sing by a stranger in a dram and upon waking wrote a Hymn about the creation.

Streonshael was also a good place for raids by the Vikings and eventually instead of pilfering they settled in the area due to the natural harbour.

Whitby doesn't come from White or Bay as you may think but is a modern way of saying svites by or Svites Homestead. 'By' being the old Danish for homestead.

The abbey in its present form was built in 1078. It was closed down during the dissolution of the monastries in 1539. It was shelled in 1914 by two German cruisers, ‘Derflinger’ and ‘Von der Tan’, seriously damaging the west wall.

The Church of St Mary next to the Abbey is a classic. Inside there are some intersting bits and bob. The Cholmley pew, built in front of the chancel arch so that this well to do family could have the best view of the service; a triple decker pulpit with a tester above to ensure that the sermon could be heard; box pews, built in the 1600’s and often rented by families, their names being put on the sides; an Elizabethan altar table; memorial plaques, coats of arms and wall paintings; an upper gallery; the re-roofing carried out in 1819 was done by shipwrights who made skylights which resemble those set into a deck.

England’s greatest explorer Captain James Cook RN, served his apprenticeship as a sea captain in Whitby, running coal from Newcastle Upon Tyne. His boats Resolution, Endeavour, Adventure and Discovery were built in or fitted out in Whitby. His house in grape lane is still there, preserved as a museum.

In 1828 Whitby was the seventh largest port in the Kingdom for Shipbuilding! In 1776 Whitby had a total of 251 ships with a weight of 50,000 tons.

Bram Stoker was inspired to write Dracula whilst staying in Whitby. After seeing the mist roll in from the sea, and a wrecked ship in Whitby harbour, Stoker wrote the town into his novel about the Vampire, with Whitby as Dracula’s landing point in England!

Lewis Carroll was inpsired to write Alice's Adventure in Wonderland after staying in the Town. He was amazed by the alleyways and snickets in the town and they helped him (with a touch of some Fly Agaric mushrooms no doubt) dream up wonderland.

Captain William Scoresby was a Whitby citizen and he was the head of a great Whaling family. He actually invented the crow’s nest, sailed within 510 of the North Pole and tamed a polar bear, which he kept chained up on Spital Bridge!

George Fox started the Quaker movement at Hawsker in 1654

Frank Meadow Sutcliffe ( 1853 - 1941 ) A nationally and internationally acclaimed pioneering photographer who helped to develop photography as an art form worked in Whitby from the mid 1870`s until his death. Most of his photographs for which he is now famous, were taken out of season. They include many of the harbour, fishing boats, children at play and fishermen.

The first Nazi machine shot down in the Second World War was shot down over Whitby by Captain Peter Townsend, the man who dated Princess Margaret in 1950's

The first natural gas well in Britain was opened by the ministry of fuel and power on Egton high moor in the 1950’s.

On the moor road between Whitby and Pickering stands Fylingdales early warning radar station. Run by the Yanks, it has been a vital cog in the security of the West since WW2. It is one of the stations that President Bush wants to use in his son of star wars program. Cheers George! Not.

The great engineer George Stephenson was once the MP for Whitby. He also built a railway between Whitby and Pickering in 1838.

A unique Whitby Wonder is Jet, a hard black lignite. It is cut and polished for use in jewellery and ornaments. It is actually a type of coal that was formed by the fossilisation of monkey puzzle trees. Whitby is the only place in Britain that it is found!

Whitby district is also the filming place for the ITV series ‘Heartbeat’. Great!
Goathland Station, on the North York Moors Railway, was used in the Harry Potter films as Hogsmeade Station, viewed as the eager students arrive at the school on the Hogwarts Express.

Simply Red’s video for ‘Holding back the years’ was filmed in Whitby.

Gwyneth Paltrow was in Town recently filming an adaptation of A.S.Byatt's Booker-prize winning novel Possession. Another famous filmstar who lives in the area is Ian Carmichael.

Whitby has two famous(ish) actors to speak of. Joanne Froggatt who made her name as Zoe in Coronation Street plus starred in Bad Girls, dinnerladies, Nature Boy, A Touch of Frost, Other People's Children, The Street and Life on Mars, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, and recently appeared in another controversial role as the title character in Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback. She is also taking the main female role in BBC's Robin Hood.

Our other actor is Samuel Barnett of The History Boys fame. He's also the star of The Beatiful People with Olivia Colman and Meera Syal. Although born in that there London, Samuel grew up in Hinderwell.

Whitby has some great rock stars as sons. Er. Well, Arthur Brown, of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown was born in Whitby. FIRE! dah dah dah FIRE! Steve Rothery from Marillion grew up here and Mark Richardson from Skunk Anansie, if you want to class them as stars .....that is! Plus recently we had Alistair Griffin who came second in Fame Academy. He's lives in Castleton but that's virtually Whitby and he used to be out boozing down town and went to school in Whitby so he counts. Still, I’d like to be a bob or two behind them!

If I can think of any more facts for you all, I’ll add them when I can!!

Craig September 2008
ps - You may also like to know how to speak properly when you are in town, so have a quick look at my phrase book