Scarborough, the 'Queen of Watering-places,' in the North Riding of Yorkshire, 54 miles N. of Hull, 21 SSE. of Whitby, 43 NE. of York, and 233 N. of London. Backed by Oliver's Mount (500 feet), it rises like an amphitheatre round a beautiful sandy bay, protected on the north by a castle-crowned headland (300 feet), beyond which is the quieter North Cliff. The South Cliff and the old town (below the Castle) are separated by a picturesque gulley, which is spanned by the Cliff Bridge (1827; 414 feet long, 75 high), and, farther up, by the Ramsdale Valley Bridge (1865). Scarborough (A.S. Skardeburge, 'fortified rock') is an old place, for Harold Hardrada ravaged it in 1066, and in 1181 it received a renewal of an earlier charter; and it returned two members to parliament from Edward I.'s time till 1885, when the representation was reduced to one. The castle, now a shattered Norman keep, dates from 1136, but was rebuilt as a royal fortress by Henry II. It was captured by the Earl of Pembroke from Piers Gaveston (1312), by Bruce (1318), by the Earl of Westmorland from the insurgent Lord Stafford (1553), and twice by the parliamentarians (1644-48), besides being unsuccessfully besieged by Aske in the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536). Near it is St Mary's, the church originally of a Cistercian priory (1320). Transition Norman and Early English in style, with later additions, it suffered much during the siege of 1644, and was restored in 1848-50, at a cost of £7000. St Martin's (1862) is a good Early English structure, with windows by Morris. Other buildings are the splendid aquarium (1877), the museum (1828), the market-hall (1853), the huge Grand Hotel (1867), and the Spa (1880), the third on the site, whose two saline and chalybeate springs were discovered about 1620, and which has charming grounds. Scarborough was made a head port in 1840. The tidal harbour, with a lighthouse and a floating-dock, was formed between 1732 and 1850, and is enclosed by three piers, the longest and outermost curving 1380 feet; on the North Sands is a promenade pier 1000 feet long; and here, too, a promenade, nearly 4000 feet long and 24 wide, constructed in 1887-90 at a cost of £50,000, was opened by the Duke of Clarence. The jet manufacture is a specialty. The season lasts from June till the middle of October, when visitors pour in by thousands from every part of the kingdom. Sir F. Leighton was born here. Resident pop. (1851) 12,915; (1881) 30,504; (1891) 33,776.
See works by Gent (1735), Hinderwell (3d ed. 1832), J. Brogden Baker (1882), and Haviland (1883).