The Borough of Scarborough () was a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

with

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

status in

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In addition to the town of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

, it covered a large stretch of the coast of Yorkshire, including

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

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located between Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing village, it has a large ...

. It bordered

Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Its council has been a unitary authority since 1996. The borough was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh, and was one of four ...

to the north, the

Ryedale Ryedale was a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It was in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent, Yorkshire, River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages ...

and Hambleton districts to the west and the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

to the south. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. It was a merger of the

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

of Filey and part of the

Bridlington Rural District Bridlington was a rural district in the East Riding of Yorkshire in England from 1894 to 1974. It covered a coastal area, and surrounded the municipal borough of Bridlington on its land borders. The district covered Flamborough and Flamborough ...

, from the historic

, along with the

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

of Scarborough, Scalby and Whitby

s, and Scarborough Rural District and Whitby Rural District, from the historic North Riding. In 2007, the borough was threatened with extinction. In March of that year,

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the ...

was shortlisted by the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...

to become a unitary authority. If the bid had been successful then the Borough of Scarborough would — along with all other districts and boroughs in the present county of

— have been abolished then. The bid, however, was unsuccessful and the districts remained as they were previously constituted. However, in July 2021 the

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 ...

announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan county would be reorganised into a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

. Scarborough Borough Council was abolished and its functions were transferred to a new single authority for the non-metropolitan county of

Education

There were a total of 64 schools and colleges in the Scarborough area, as of 2012.

Localities

The Borough of Scarborough included many civil parishes and suburbs including: Brompton-by-Sawdon,

Broxa-cum-Troutsdale Broxa-cum-Troutsdale is a civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The population as of the 2011 census remained less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Hackness. The parish includes the village of Broxa, and ...

, Cloughton,

Commondale Commondale is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England that lies within the North York Moors National Park. The village is served by Commondale railway station. It has a small pub called The Cleveland Inn. Accord ...

, Crossgates, Eastfield,

Glaisdale Glaisdale is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, within the North York Moors National Park. It lies at on the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk, between the villages of Lealholm and Egton Bridge, west of ...

, Houlsyke,

Hunmanby Hunmanby is a large village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It was part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was in the Scarborough (borough), Scarborough district of the shire county of North Yorkshire. ...

, Hutton Buscel,

Irton Irton is a village and civil parish, south-west of Scarborough in the county of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2011 UK census, Irton parish had a population of 312, a decrease on the 2001 UK census figure of 332. In 2015, North Yor ...

, Littlebeck, Muston, Newby and Scalby, Ravenscar, Ruston,

Silpho Silpho is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 UK census, Silpho parish had a population of 31. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100. Details are included in the civil ...

, Snainton, Seamer,

West Ayton West Ayton is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. Located upon the west bank of the River Derwent adjacent to East Ayton. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 UK census, West Ayton parish had a po ...

, Wykeham and others. Wards of Scarborough town were Castle, Central, Eastfield, Falsgrave Park, Newby, North Bay, Northstead, Ramshill, Stepney, Weaponness, and Woodlands. Areas without namesake wards included Westborough (centre), Barrowcliff and Newlands. In 2016, the borough ranked second in Visit England's survey of overall holiday trips and holiday spend, topped only by London.

Media

Since 1882, it has been served by '' The Scarborough News'', which is published every Thursday. The Scarborough Borough receives a daily radio news services from these radio stations,

BBC Radio York BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Bootham area of York. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...

which covers

BBC Radio Tees BBC Radio Tees, formerly known as BBC Radio Teesside, BBC Radio Cleveland and then BBC Tees, is a BBC local radio station broadcasting from Broadcasting House, Newport Road, Middlesbrough. It broadcasts to parts of County Durham and North Yor ...

covering

& Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire Coast which was previously known as Yorkshire Coast Radio and used to have studios in Scarborough. This is The Coast broadcasts from Scarborough on DAB and provides regular local news bulletins. Local news and television programmes in

is covered by

BBC Yorkshire BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Kingston upon Hull. Serving West, North and South Yorkshir ...

ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

from Leeds and

receives their local news and television programmes from BBC North East & Cumbria &

ITV Tyne Tees ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a convert ...

in Newcastle.

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Scarborough.

Individuals

* H. D. G. Leveson-Gower: 1950 * Max Jaffa: 1986. *

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. As of 2025, he has written and produced 90 full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen ...

: 1986. * Alan Booth: 1999 * Charles McCarthy: 1996. * Max Payne : 1999. * Thomas Pindar: 1999. *

Sir John Wilson __NOTOC__ Sir John Foster Wilson Order of the British Empire, CBE (20 January 1919 – 25 November 1999) was a British public health advocate, best known for working to prevent blindness in developing countries in Africa and South and South E ...

: 1999. * Bernard Bosomworth: 2005. * Elizabeth Mackenzie: 2005. * Sir Jimmy Savile: 2005. (Revoked on 5 November 2012 by unanimous vote of Scarborough Borough Council due to the sexual abuse scandal). * Christopher Wilby: 2005. * Ken Dale: 2009. * 5th Baron Derwent: 2009. * Tony Peers: 2009. * George Thomas Tuby: 2009. * Paul Ingle: 24 February 2012. * Andrew Boyes: 24 February 2012. * Timothy Boyes: 24 February 2012. * Donald Robinson: 24 February 2012. *

Beth Mead Bethany Jane Mead (born 9 May 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for the Women's Super League (WSL) club Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal and the England women's national football team, En ...

: 20 March 2023. *

Zoe Aldcroft Zoe Rosalind Aldcroft (born 19 November 1996) is an English rugby union player. She represents England women's national rugby union team internationally and made her debut in 2016 against France. She was named in the 2017 Women's Rugby World C ...

: 20 March 2023.

Military units

* 64 Medical Squadron 5 Medical Regiment

RAMC The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

: 2007. * 3 Medical Regiment

: May 2015. * The

Yorkshire Regiment The Royal Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated R YORKS) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, created by the amalgamation of three historic regiments in 2006. It lost one battalion as part of the Future of ...

Borough council

The political composition of the council at all-up elections, ignoring intervening by-elections, from the 2003 election to the final election in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, is as follows:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarborough, Borough of Former non-metropolitan districts of North Yorkshire Former boroughs in England 2023 disestablishments in England