Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Scarborough (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Scarborough Castle, Scarborough Town Hall, and Cliff Bridge. Also, be sure to include Rotunda Museum in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Scarborough (England).
Table of Contents
Scarborough Castle
Ancient stronghold with dramatic history. Scarborough Castle is a former medieval Royal fortress situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the North Sea and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The site of the castle, encompassing the Iron Age settlement, Roman signal station, an Anglo-Scandinavian settlement and chapel, the 12th-century enclosure castle and 18th-century battery, is a scheduled monument of national importance.
Fortifications for a wooden castle were built in the 1130s, but the present stone castle dates from the 1150s. Over the centuries, several other structures were added, with medieval monarchs investing heavily in what was then an important fortress that guarded the Yorkshire coastline, Scarborough's port trade, and the north of England from Scottish or continental invasion. It was fortified and defended during various civil wars, sieges and conflicts, as kings fought with rival barons, faced rebellion and clashed with republican forces, though peace with Scotland and the conclusion of civil and continental wars in the 17th century led to its decline in importance.
Once occupied by garrisons and governors who often menaced the town, the castle has been a ruin since the sieges of the English Civil War, but attracts many visitors to climb the battlements, take in the views and enjoy the accompanying interactive exhibition and special events run by English Heritage.[1]
Address: Scarborough Castle Castle Road, YO11 1HY Scarborough
Scarborough Town Hall
Scarborough Town Hall, originally St Nicholas House, is a red brick Jacobean Revival mansion in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, currently used as a municipal building for the Borough of Scarborough and an events venue. It was built in the 19th century as a home for John Woodall, a prominent local businessman, and then converted and extended for municipal use in 1903. Situated overlooking the South Bay, it is a grade II listed building.[2]
Address: St Nicholas Street, Scarborough
Cliff Bridge
The Cliff Bridge, previously known as the Spa Bridge, is a footbridge in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. Spanning the valley from St Nicholas Cliff to The Spa, it was completed in 1827 and is a Grade II listed building.
The bridge has four segmental braced iron arches on plain tapering stone piers with stone abutments; its walkway is 414 feet (126 m) long. It is a rare example of a multiple-span cast iron bridge.[3]
Rotunda Museum
Museum in Scarborough, England. The Rotunda Museum is one of the oldest purpose-built museums still in use in the United Kingdom. The curved grade II* listed building was constructed in 1829 as one of the country's first purpose-built museums. Situated in the English coastal resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, it houses one of the foremost collections of Jurassic geology on the Yorkshire Coast.[4]
Address: Vernon Rd, YO11 2PS Scarborough
Scarborough Spa
Event venue in Scarborough, England. Scarborough Spa is a Grade II* listed building in South Bay, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is a venue for conferences, exhibitions, entertainment, live music and events on the Yorkshire Coast. Originally built around the source of Scarborough's spa waters, it is owned and managed by Scarborough Borough Council.
The Spa has a Grand Hall, which seats 1,500 and hosts live entertainment including the Scarborough Spa Orchestra and the annual Scarborough Jazz Festival. The Spa Theatre, a 557-seat Victorian theatre, is home to summer season shows and Christmas pantomimes. The Spa Ocean Room is used for dances, conferences and other events, including the Scarborough Jazz Festival and Coastival.
The Victorian Cliff Tramway is a funicular railway that links the Spa complex with South Cliff, 200 ft above the South Bay.[5]
Address: South Bay, YO11 2HD Scarborough
Peasholm Park
Park in Scarborough, England. Peasholm Park is an oriental themed municipal park located in the seaside town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1912 and became a venue for galas, displays and exhibitions. The park was extended to include Peasholm Glen, a natural ravine, in 1924. Attractions include an artificial boating lake, where mock naval battles are staged, a putting green and a champion tree walk. The park suffered a decline in use from the 1970s as the number of holidaymakers visiting Scarborough decreased but it has been restored using Heritage Lottery Funding.[6]
Address: Victoria Park Avenue, Y012 7TS Scarborough
Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers
Statue by Ray Lonsdale. Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers is a statue by sculptor Ray Lonsdale which overlooks North Bay of Scarborough, England. Made from weathering steel, the sculpture depicts Freddie Gilroy, a former soldier who participated in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, sitting on a bench in his old age. Gilroy was a friend of the sculptor and Lonsdale made the piece partly as a tribute to him, but also as a wider war and Holocaust memorial. Originally intended to sit on the seafront as a 4-week loan in 2011, a local resident donated money to purchase the sculpture for the town.[7]
Address: Royal Albert Drive YO12 7TY, Scarborough
Futurist Theatre
Theatre in Scarborough, England. The Futurist Theatre was a theatre and cinema in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It was located on Foreshore Road, on the sea front of the South Bay.
The theatre closed on 6 January 2014 after the operator's lease expired. The building was demolished by August 2018.
The Futurist was built as a cinema in 1921. It remained in this role until 1958 when the stage was extended to allow live performances at the venue. The Beatles performed there twice, on 11 December 1963 and on 9 August 1964. Extensions to the stage allowed the popular The Black and White Minstrel Show to perform there many times when it was owned (between 1966 and 1974) by Robert Luff, the producer of the stage version. The extension to the stage meant the closure of the adjacent Arcadia Theatre which became a lounge.
During the 1980s, Scarborough Borough Council took over the property and leased the theatre to Apollo Leisure Ltd (UK), who ran it until September 2002.
In December 2002, Barrie C. Stead, who also runs the Hollywood Plaza cinema, took over the Futurist and refurbished the theatre and cinema, installing new projectors, DTS sound system and a new CinemaScope screen.
Every summer, there was a summer season with usually the same acts every week in July and August.
The Futurist had the twelfth largest capacity (2,155) of a theatre in the country, and the fifth largest outside London.
In the winter of 2011, the Futurist managed to attract over 16,000 people during eight sell-out performances of Calendar Girls produced by David Pugh.
On 9 January 2017, Scarborough Borough Council voted to demolish the theatre, by the narrowest of margins (22-21). The decision was a controversial one, as not all the councillors voted, and many locals and visitors alike, would have preferred the venue to be saved, restored and modernised. The fate of the site is uncertain. However, interest has been shown from the Flamingoland group, who gave a large donation to the incumbent conservative party prior to the ramping up of the parties campaign to demolish the building. Demolition of the building began in June 2018 and was completed in August 2018.
Plans for a new Flamingo Land attraction on the site were revealed in February 2019. Gordon Gibb, Chief Executive of Flamingoland announced in January 2022 that the company had reluctantly withdrawn its interest in the site, due to differences in development plans between the company and the local council.[8]
Address: Scarborough, Foreshore Road
Scarborough Art Gallery
Art gallery in Scarborough, England. Scarborough Art Gallery is an art gallery in the English town of Scarborough. It is housed in a Grade II* Italianate villa in Scarborough’s Crescent, designed by Richard Hey Sharp. The gallery is administered by the Scarborough Museums Trust and is open to the public. Its permanent collection has been developed over the past seventy years through gifts, bequests and purchases.[9]
Address: The Crescent, YO11 2PW Scarborough
Albemarle Baptist Church
Albemarle Baptist Church is a Grade II listed church located on Albemarle Crescent, central Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It was designed in the Gothic Revival style by the Bradford architect Henry Francis Lockwood, and opened in 1867.[10]
St Mary's Church
Episcopal church in Scarborough, England. St Mary's Church is a parish church in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in the Church of England. It stands high above the old town, just below Scarborough Castle.[11]
Address: 158 Castle Rd, YO11 1HY Scarborough