Scarborough Archaeological & Historical Society, South Cliff and
Ramshill Festival 2005
1st to 7th August 2005
Historic South Cliff
For centuries, Scarborough South Cliff stretched beyond the sheep pasture of Ramsdale as great fields with names like Cockhill, Elriggs and the South Field, which ended at the Holbeck stream. Beyond was the isolated farm at Wheatcroft, near the remnant of some old fort called “Swarburgh”. The rest was common moors up to Weaponness. In the early 19th century, when the stage coaches British Queen, Express, Royal Mail and Wellington came along the king’s highway from Bridlington towards Blands Cliff, little stood out on the skyline, beyond Ramsdale cross except a windmill, and a house for curing herrings at Ramshill.
Change began when the Cliff Bridge was opened to connect the resort at upper Scarborough with the Spa in 1826. Filey showed the way, building a Crescent on its south cliff in 1840. The new Scarborough town council was selling land and some buyers asked John Gibson to plan and lay foundations for a South Cliff estate, above the Spa. The Crown Hotel and part of the Esplanade were complete by 1845, with streets behind. J. F. Sharpin gave the Crown good stabling, baths, billiard rooms, and suites with bed and sitting rooms. Within two years,there was a ballroom. Private marine villas were built nearby. It was all very select, the Kings of Belgium and Italy mingling with English royalty, separate from the hurly burley of Scarborough.The outdoor diversions were riding, carriage drives and a camera obscura. In 1845, the old town welcomed the railway and trippers came, pouring down Newborough like a mass of black ants to the beach. Southcliff drew breath, expanded a little, and stayed select. Oliver Sarony built his great Photographic gallery in 1857, just as Sir Joseph Paxton was developing the Spa as a music centre set amid garden grounds. Terrraced boarding and lodging houses multiplied. There was even a “New Brighton” on the Filey road, which was a bit cheeky. South Street became the first shopping centre and St Martin’s church was built in 1861.
Then came a flood of change. The Valley Bridge built in 1864 opened up South cliff. A great Congregational church rose the next year,its committee chaired by Sir Titus Salt, the “alpaca king”. St Martins School opened to welcome the sons of Anglican country gentry. Ramshill became the new social and shopping centre, with the South Cliff baths of 1876. and a new Methodist church. The south Cliff Tramway of 1876 gave a way down to a new Spa Hall and the new Aquarium of 1877. If the seventies brought the Prince of Wales, with his lady friends, Mrs Keppel and Lilly Langtry, they also pioneered the South Cliff architectural heritage. Here remain the great Terraces, a mass of Victorian architecture on the grand scale, hardly paralleled elsewhere in northern resorts.
South Cliff Festival
The first Ramshill and South Cliff Festival took place from 1st to 7th August 2005, celebrating 160 years of history. A varied programme of events was planned, involving local residents and traders in guided tours and poetry, dressing up and competitions, a church service, a barbecue and many more events. All were welcomed to join in and find out more about the history of the area, its key buildings and people.
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