West and East Piers at Whitby in 2021, showing their extensionsThe two piers circa 1900 before the extensions were added
The piers of Whitby are four structures along the River Esk estuary in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. Whilst all the piers can be accessed by the general public, the piers were not built as seaside attractions – so-called pleasure piers like Redcar, Saltburn or Withernsea – but rather serving a civil purpose, such as ship loading and protecting the harbour. The main West and East piers in the town were built to provide shelter from the currents and storms of the North Sea, and in the 18th and 19th centuries, any ships seeking refuge in the harbour were charged a levy for use of Whitby's safe haven. These levies were used to pay for the maintenance and improvement of the piers.
It has been recognised that Whitby Harbour has been an important maritime centre that dates back possibly to Roman times. Fishing has always been an important and dominant industry, though this lessened in the 20th century. Historically the export of alum, the importing of coal, and then the shipbuilding industries, have been crucial to the development of the town. The River Esk harbour in Whitby is the only natural harbour between the Tees and the Humber.
Both piers were extended in the early 20th century in an effort to control low water flow and a whirlpool at the harbour entrance. The two pier extensions have been described as "... reach[ing] out to sea like the mandibles of some great insect."
Of note is that the Eskdale Anticline divides both piers, despite being only yards apart; the West Pier is built on oolitic sandstone, whereas the East Pier is on alum shale.
The piersofWhitby are four structures along the River Esk estuary in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. Whilst all the piers can be accessed by the general...
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk. It has a maritime...
that side of the estuary too steep to house piers). William de Percy granted the port to the abbey at Whitby, a grant which was confirmed by William II...
worker who was the driver of the train that was robbed in the Great Train Robbery in 1963. His Secondman was David Whitby. He boarded the train at the...
Scarborough & Whitby Railway over the River Esk, North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct was constructed for the Scarborough and Whitby Railway to carry...
beaches at Whitby, Staithes and Runswick Bay with Britain's oldest dinosaur bone being found on Whitby beach in 2015. The bone fell out of a cliff face...
Whitby 1985, pp. 136–141 Whitby 1985, pp. 141–147 PLRE, Vol. III, pp. 1064-1065 Whitby 1985, p. 46 Whitby 1985, pp. 129ff. Whitby 1985, p. 130 Whitby...
West and East Piers at Whitby were faced with 6 tonnes (6.6 tons) blocks of Aislaby stone. Besides being used for building purposes, some of the stone from...
crossing structures, including the viaduct, on the Whitby to Loftus line were made out of iron, with the piers additionally filled with concrete. The viaduct...
memorial by the route of walk Esk Valley Walk at Ruswarp At the outskirts ofWhitby near Caedmon School Whitby West Pier at end of Esk Valley Walk "North...
built (and longer) Larpool Viaduct in Whitby, however, it was found necessary to deviate from the original plan of Saltburn Viaduct when building the one...
Whitby Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station located in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of nine...
modern harbour lies. In 1837, an Act of Parliament enabled the wooden piers to be replaced with two stone piers to the north and south. Apart from landing...
Psalm 93 is the 93rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty". The...
Author of A History of Magic, and the great aunt of Gellert Grindelwald. Bathilda is a major source of information for Rita Skeeter's biography of Dumbledore...
engineer Mark Whitby and the innovative Severn Bridge, which deployed box girders; Irish civil engineer Patrick J. Dowling, head of the Department of Civil and...
number of rivers: the Leven which flows north into the Tees between Yarm and Ingleby Barwick; the Esk flows east directly into the North Sea at Whitby as...
The list of shipwrecks in September 1824 includes some ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during September 1824. "The Marine List". Lloyd's...
The list of shipwrecks in September 1878 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during September 1878. "Shipping". Newcastle Courant...
The List of shipwrecks in 1784 includes ships sunk, foundered, wrecked, grounded, or otherwise lost during 1784. "The Marine List". New Lloyd's List (1534)...
In Our Time is a radio discussion programme exploring a wide variety of historical, scientific, cultural, religious and philosophical topics, broadcast...
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