Local History

Staintondale and Ravenscar have a long and unusual history. Dinosaurs left their footprints along the coast (yes, really ! Plenty of other fossils too). Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age man erected barrows and standing stones in profusion on what is now moorland. The Romans were here, and built a Signal Station as part of their East Coast defences on the site of Raven Hall Hotel. From soon after the Conquest until the Reformation the land at the heart of the village was granted by Royal Charter to the Knights Hospitallers, (with a number of interesting attendant privileges thought by some to have been transferred ultimately to today's freeholders, when the land was sold after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.) The area was a centre both of Quakerism and of Methodism in their early years, and indeed did not possess an Anglican church as such until the beginning of the 20th century. Ravenscar boasted a large and intermittently successful alum works from the early 17th until the late 19th centuries, supporting workers, managers and owners all resident in the area. Raven Hall, now an excellent hotel, developed into a fine residence over the years, one of its 19th century owners erecting Ravenscar Church as well as various other buildings, (though contrary to popular legend, it is unlikely that the Mad King George stayed there). However, the attempt to turn Ravenscar into a coastal resort failed, despite the building of the Scarborough and Whitby Railway, and with the collapse of the alum industry towards the end of the 19th century, the failure of the Ravenscar Estate Company and the coming of the internal combustion engine, the railway became merely a seasonal attraction. It closed eventually in 1965, its legacy being a very pleasant walk and cycle-path.

Today the area is delightfully unspoilt. It boasts around 300 inhabitants, many of whom are still involved with farming. Not only is it a tranquil holiday location; it has the added advantage of being within easy reach of Scarborough, Whitby and York, as well as a host of coastal and moorland beauty-spots.

A series of inexpensive pamphlets and other publications about the area are available from The Village Shop.


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