Yorkshire Day 3: The Castle on the Hill

Today we had an appointment at Scarborough Castle. It’s run by English Heritage, where I volunteered for nearly three years. In normal times, you don’t usually have to make bookings for EH sites. But with covid restrictions and capacity limits, we had to book in advance. Our booking wasn’t until 11am, so we got ready at a leisurely pace and then took a slow stroll toward the castle mount.

Walking through the more residential side of Scarborough was nice. There are so many little indie shops and cafés tucked away here and there – local business is a much bigger thing up in the North, it seems. I wish we had a lot more of this in the South.

As I predicted, we were way too early for our appointment at the castle, so we stopped in the St. Mary’s Church graveyard to find Anne Brontë’s grave. The church was initially established in the 12^th century, but was mostly destroyed during the English Civil War. The building you see there today is from the 17^th century, plus heavy restoration work from the 1800s. It’s half the size it used to be, but you can still some incredibly ancient walls standing where the church used to end. We didn’t go inside, but the exterior and the churchyard itself are really beautiful and old.

What is it about graveyard paving slabs and being insanely slippery when wet? Martin went into the yard first and warned us that the stones were slippery and I walked in flippantly saying that that’s how the graveyard increases its population – mysterious slippery falls. Immediately after saying this, I slipped on the stone and nearly fell. I took the high road and just said, “Ok, ghosts.” before carrying on.

Anne’s grave was quite easy to find, as there were handy signposts showing the way. It was further away from the church than I thought it would be, but that shouldn’t have surprised me considering the age of the place. Her stone was enormous and was probably beautifully ornate when it was first erected. As you can see in the photo, years of weathering from the sea and rain has all but erased the original epitaph. The Brontë society added the new plaque on the floor in 2011 with the initial inscription so you can still read it. The original actually had an error on it – it says that Anne died at 28 (my age!), when in fact she was 29.

The small section of graveyard we were in was exceptionally interesting to look at. Most, if not all, of the stones were black with weathering. St Mary’s sits right up on the castle mount, on a headland that juts into the North Sea, so the erosion is notable. Looking back toward the church offered a picture perfect view.

We had a little stroll in the Royal Albert Park, which is on the hill right next to the castle path. We didn’t go too far because the park slopes all the way down and meets the South Bay; we didn’t fancy walking down and then all the way back up the hill! There were single-person benches that were designed like thrones, which I thought was super cool.

Even after all of that we were still early when we walked up to the gatehouse. Luckily though, we were allowed to go in as the site wasn’t hugely busy. Through the gatehouse was a walled-in stone path that wound its way up the hill toward the hulking silhouette of the keep.

There were lots of signs near the Master Gunner’s house (and some cool cannons) that went through the long history of the castle. The site has been used for a good 3000 years, though the castle itself was built in medieval times. The signs provided information from all the way back in the late Bronze Age, up until German bombardment in the First World War, and I learned a lot. I liked that the signs were there, before you see any of the ruins properly yourself. It gives you a chance to learn a bit about what everything is.

Continuing up and around the keep, we discovered a stone staircase leading up to a modern viewing platform inside. It was really cool to be standing in the ruins and really high up. It was so blowy up there – it was a windy day anyway, and being right up on the headland with no cover made it even more so. I was more than a bit afraid I’d be blown right out of the windows!

When we’d had our fill of the fantastic view, we came back down into the bailey area. Nearby was a well that must have gone all the way to the bottom of the cliff. It was really wide in circumference and apparently 150-feet deep which is horrifying. There was an iron grate over it, but it was still really ominous.

Looking back at the keep from over near the well.

The whole castle site is about 16 acres in size, and includes so much history – it was really fascinating to walk around and read all of the signs scattered around. We found an old chamber room (a toilet), complete with iron grates across a hole above a sheer drop – definitely didn’t want to fall down that toilet! Next to this were some stone walls that marked the old barracks. I imagine this would have been where the servants and soldiers would stay when off-duty. It was also reinforced and used in the First World War, the remains of which you can spot in the form of red brick walls.

Across from that is what remains of the King’s Hall. There are only low walls marking out the shape of a building and interior rooms, so it was fun to try and guess what all of the rooms would have been and how the building probably looked when it was still standing.

The remains of the King’s Hall and the keep in the background.

We took a stroll around the edge of the headland. The North Sea was grey and imposing and the wind howled – it was really atmospheric. There’s a clear space that signifies where the Neolithic site used to stand. All of the artefacts found there are no doubt kept safe in the exhibition at the Master Gunner’s House. It was amazing to stand there and know that people lived and worked here thousands of years ago.

If you follow the headland around, you eventually come to another set of small ruins. They were previously the site of a Roman signal station, as old as the 4^th century. Again, there are theories and diagrams of what it might have looked like, but now it’s just several walls, a well, and some grassy slopes.

Included in the Roman site, is a tiny chapel hewn into a hillock like a Hobbit hole. You can’t go in because of the huge well set in the middle of the floor, so you have to peep through the iron grate in the door. The well is called Our Lady’s Well, which connotes purity and peace, but it looked so creepy in there. I could also see a faint outline of a cross on the back wall. The place was like a dark cave rather than a place of worship. It was so spooky and cool. Nearby in the grass was a large slab which marks a mass grave – people who were entombed in the chapel’s cemetery, but were eventually moved to their new resting place. I remarked that this part of Scarborough Castle was almost a million percent haunted.

Down some narrow steps back near the barracks was a locked door that used to lead to a small tower. Back when the castle was occupied, this little place served as a solitary prison. Open to the elements, it must’ve been a really miserable place to be. The whole site was really interesting. It was cold up there, but so pretty and quiet. The castle is definitely a must-see if you’re visiting Scarborough.

Back in the bailey area, there was a wooden staircase up to a viewing platform that was even higher up than the one in the keep. Martin and I went up there to have a look – again, I was worried I’d be pushed right over the edge by the wind. The view was absolutely worth it though.

There is usually an indoor exhibition at Scarborough Castle but it’s currently closed due to covid. This was a shame as I would have liked to see the archaeology that has been dug up on the site over the years, especially the amazing 3000-year-old sword they found!

Before we left, we took a turn around the gift shop and I got myself a bottle of English Heritage-branded MEAD. I’ve never had it before so I’m really excited to try it out!

We decided to go and look at the old Victorian market halls back towards town centre, as it was only about a ten minute walk away. It’s still operational as a market, which is really nice because a lot of them are becoming defunct these days. First, we went into the vaults beneath the main hall. There are several shops and things down there, and it was much quieter and less busy than upstairs. As we walked through the arched corridor, I saw a guy in a three-piece suit and a newsboy cap and said, “A Peaky Blinder just walked past.” He looked amazing. There was an antique shop that I wanted to look at but there were quite a few people waiting to get in. Covid restrictions limited the shop to two customers at a time because it’s really small, and I didn’t feel like waiting around. I feel at this time I should stop the narrative and assure everyone that we were in masks whenever we went inside anywhere, and only took them off to eat and drink after we were seated.

Speaking of eating, we’d worked up quite an appetite up on the windy castle mount, and decided to stop at a little place in the market vaults. It was called Bakers n Brew, and is a proper little locally-run place that does breakfast, toasted sandwiches, hot drinks, things like that. We all opted for the bacon and Brie toasted sandwich because it sounded great. Mum and Martin had a coffee each, and I spoiled myself with a full-fat Coke. The folk running the place were really chilled out but so on the ball – our freshly toasted sandwiches appeared in no time. They were so good – the Brie was just beginning to melt and was all gooey, and the bacon was almost crispy, but not quite. The bread was a dark, golden brown (the perfect toast). We all went very quiet as we ate because it was a fantastic sandwich.

We had a quick look around main hall, but it was a bit more crowded so we didn’t linger for too long. It was nice to see plenty of people in the market, though. It’s the same sort of local business thing we’ve been seeing here a lot. The market hall in my town has been shut for years, it’s good that some of them still exist.

There’s a big, gorgeous Victorian red-brick building perched up on the hill that I’d spied while walking on the seafront, and today I finally found out what it was. We happened to walk by it on our way down to South Beach, and it’s the old town hall. It really is such a magnificent building. Outside there is a small garden, named St Nicholas Garden, with a statue of Queen Victoria. The statue is Grade-II listed, as it’s actually from the Victorian times, but it has been restored in more recent years so it looks shiny and new. It’s apparently the only statue of a public figure in all of Scarborough.

Another thing in the garden that I liked was a WW1 remembrance bench. Apparently they’ve been springing up everywhere, but this is the first one I’ve seen of this particular design. It has soldier silhouettes and red poppies built into the back of the bench itself and was really pretty and poignant.

Back down on the seafront, we had a look in some of the shops. I couldn’t convince Mum to come into Terror Tower with me. It’s a live-action haunted house sort of thing, and she was adamant that she’d die if someone suddenly jumped out at her. I’m gutted because I think it would have been fun (and hilarious).

One of the shops was called Ancient Warrior, and it was really cool. It had loads of ‘fandom’ merchandise, swords and weapons/cosplay props, gothic statues and decorations, things like that. I had a good look around there, even though it was quite busy. A guy was pointing out a Dumbledore-style goblet to his girlfriend and said, “It’s ninety quid.” Before I could stop it, my great big mouth chimed in with, “FUCK that.” and we all had a little communal laugh. You know how I love stranger moments.

By this time, we’d been walking up and down hills and around town all day (minus a short stop in Bakers n Brew). My knees were in agony and we ducked into the nearest pub for a drink and a sit down, so I could take some painkillers and actually make it back to the flat. It was called Newcastle Packet, and felt very local. There were many fantastic Yorkshire accents. I had some Old Mout Cider and we took our time with our drinks so my paracetamol could kick in.

When I’d gathered some more strength, we went up to the town centre and stopped for dinner in a pub called The Lord Rosebery. I decided to try Whitby scampi – I’ve never had scampi, let alone a Whitby variety of scampi. It was really delicious and I picked a small portion of it with chips, so I was pleased with myself for not overeating as I often do while on holiday. I want to say that The Lord Rosebery did really well with their covid precautions – everyone who came through the door was required to fill out a form with their information and sanitise their hands. There were plenty of accessible hand sanitising stations and the staff were just brilliant. I was really impressed – I’ve noticed a lot of people around here have been really lackadaisical about the social distancing and mask measures, so it was refreshing to feel like I was in a place that took it seriously.

This is the spa bridge, which is near (and very similar to) the Valley Bridge.

It wasn’t a long walk back to the apartment from the Lord Rosebery. I was glad of this because my legs are really hurting again, and I’m probably going to have another really early night. I’ve been reading Strange Weather by Joe Hill and it’s really good, so I’ll probably read more of that before getting to sleep.