Runswick Bay is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. It is also the name of a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located on the western edge of the bay (although the village is sometimes shortened to Runswick on UK road signs). It is north of

Whitby 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, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

, and close to the villages of Ellerby and

Hinderwell Hinderwell is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England which lies within the North York Moors National Park, about a mile from the coast on the A174 road between the towns of Loftus and Whitby. The 2011 UK census states Hinderw ...

. It is a popular tourist attraction due to its picturesque cliffside village, stunning coastal walks, fossil hunting and ''Runswick Sands'', a white sand

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

. It is on the

Cleveland Way The Cleveland Way is a National Trail in the historic area of Cleveland in North Yorkshire, Northern England. It runs between Helmsley and the Brigg at Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park. History Development of the Cleve ...

national trail. Runswick Bay was chosen as Beach of the Year 2020 by ''The Sunday Times''. Runswick Bay MMB 01

History

The original

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

was almost completely destroyed by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

in 1682. Remarkably, there were no fatalities, as the village was alerted by two mourners at a wake. The village was rebuilt, slightly further to the south, perched on the side of cliffs. Runswick Bay MMB 11

The village ran its own lifeboat from 1866, until it was moved to the

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Founded in 1824 ...

station at

Staithes Staithes () is a village in North Yorkshire, England, situated by the border between the unitary authorities of North Yorkshire and Redcar and Cleveland. The area located on the Redcar and Cleveland side is known as Cowbar. Formerly a hub for f ...

in 1978. The boathouse still remains, and has run its own volunteer rescue boat service since 1982. In the late 1880s, Runswick Bay was the site of an

art colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission ...

. The Marquess of Normanby's Mulgrave Estate owns part of the land in the village which is also in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. The village is located within the Parish of

, which at the 2011 census, had a population of 1,875 people. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the

Borough of Scarborough The Borough of Scarborough () was a non-metropolitan district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England. In addition to the town of Scarborough, it covered a large stretch of the coast of Yorkshire, including Whitby and Filey. It bordere ...

, it is now administered by the unitary

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

Geography

On the north side of the bay is Cauldron Cliff, and the

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

on the south side is known as

Kettleness Kettleness, is a hamlet in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The settlement only consists of half-a-dozen houses, but up until the early 19th century, it was a much larger village. However, most of that village, which was on the headland, ...

, site of

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , such that is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium ...

mining from 1727 until the late 1800s. Around the edge of the bay is a white sand beach called ''Runswick Sands'', and a series of caves. The largest cave on the bay, '' Hob Hole'', was so named as it was believed to be the home of a 'Hob' (or

Boggart A boggart is a supernatural being from English folklore. The dialectologist Elizabeth Mary WElizabeth Wright described the boggart as 'a generic name for an apparition'; folklorist Simon Young defines it as 'any ambivalent or evil solitary super ...

) in local

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

. The bay is long. A

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...

, made of large boulders, was completed in 1970. Like other parts of the

Yorkshire Coast The Yorkshire Coast runs from the River Tees, Tees estuary to the Humber estuary, on the east coast of England. The cliffs at Boulby are the highest on the east coast of England, rising to above the sea level. The North York Moors, North York ...

, the area suffers from a high degree of

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

which has made it a popular location for

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

hunting.

A number of local

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s drain into the bay across ''Runswick Sands''; from West to East: ''Nettle Dale'', ''Dunsley Dale'', ''Calais Beck'' and ''Widgeytoft Gill''. Runswick Bay village covers an area of 620

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s and has a peak seasonal population of 2,315, though permanent residence is low with a high degree of houses being holiday lets and second homes. It is split into two parts, the 'lower' red-roofed, cliff-side, former-fishing village, and ''Runswick Bank Top'', a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

located adjacent to farmland overlooking the bay, built around the intersection of the roads leading to Ellerby and Hinderwell. The ''Bank Top'' village contains a

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

and Caravan site, a hotel and modern housing developments. The two parts of the village are joined via a steep lane which is part of the ''

,'' with the beach located at the bottom of the lane. The ''Lower'' village of Runswick Bay is densely packed with narrow winding streets and steep steps. It is largely inaccessible to traffic accessed only by a 1 in 4 gradient road. Key buildings include the old lifeboat station, and a thatched cottage which is a Grade II

Listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. There is a sailing club, a pub, one car park, holiday cottages to rent, public toilets and a beachside cafe. There are no disabled facilities and due to the uneven slopes access can be difficult A £2.28 million pound award-winning coastal erosion protection scheme was completed in 2018 to protect the village for another 100 years.

References

External links

{{Navboxes , list1 = {{Coastal settlements , place = North Yorkshire , settlement = Runswick Bay , anticlockwise = Port Mulgrave , clockwise =

{{The Yorkshire coast {{North Yorkshire {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Populated coastal places in North Yorkshire Fishing communities in England Hinderwell

History

Geography

See also

References

External links