Whitby is famous for?
Whitby (St Hilda's) Abbey, Dracula, Bram Stoker, Captain Cook, Whitby Goths, Whitby Regatta, Whitby Whaling, Fishing, St Mary's Church, Whitby Jet, Whitby Witches, Whitby Town, The Whitby Seagull, 199 Steps, Harbour, Whitby Piers, Shipping Trades, Alum Production, B&Bs, The East Cliff, Captain William Scoresby, Fisherman's Cottages, Whitby's Yards, Steps and cobbled streets, Fish and Chips, The Endeavour, Ghost Walks, Sea Food, Seaside, The West Cliff, Whitby Folk Festival, Caedmon, Frank Sutcliffe, Whitby Kippers, Lobster, Crabs and Scampi, Synod of A.D. 664, Australian 'First Fleet' supply vessels,
Do you know any other things Whitby is famous for? Let us know and we'll add it to the list, see here!
Discover Whitby's street names and their history here
Break the ice, Jury, Binge drinking, Incredible Hulk, Down the hatch, ...discover these and many more well known phrases from our maritime past here
Find out about the building styles and architecture found in the buildings of Whitby here.
Whitby in times gone by, ads from the past here
There are basically two forms of architecture in terms of the layout and external appearance of a building.
Polite architecture includes buildings of grand design, usually using greek or roman styles using design books, architectural principles of form, proportion, scale and mass. Such building include prestigious, palaces, great halls, public buildings, art galleries, town halls, public libraries, mansions, grand houses, georgian terraces and town houses, victorian town houses, follies and temples. Polite architecture was only made possible by the funds available by their wealthy owners. Polite buildings are usually built in a non local style.
Vernacular architecture includes buildings of humble more modest size, materials and design. There were no pattern books used, usually no architect to design them and were more functional. Such buildings include cottages, farm buildings, industrial buildings like potteries, smithies, foundries etc. The material used in vernacular would be sourced locally, built by local craftsmen using local details and construction material.
In simple terms, polite architecture is more concerned with appearance than the function of the building. Vernacular buildings tend to be driven by the buildings use and it's layout, with the appearance and external design given less importance.
In whitby we can find examples of both polite architecture and vernacular. Many of the terraced houses are in a polite style which in their long rows form the appearance of a grand mansion in their georgian/neo classical (classical revival) and neo gothic/gothik (gothic revival).
Some examples of polite architecture in whitby.
Below, Westcliffe county primary school, Church Square. Polite architecture in the queen anne style. The queen anne revival was popular between 1860 and 1890. Note the uniformity of the design, windows set at regular intervals, symmetrical facade, flat arch brick lintels over windows, feature central round pediment in the roof above the central arched window, the windows are six over six box sash, flush with the face of the brickwork (typical of the queen anne period before the great fire of london).
Below, Whitby Mission and Seafarers Centre (Formerly Haggersgate House), paradise yard. An example of polite architecture in the neo classical style, an early georgian building with heavy stone architraves (mouldings) around windows, quoins (corners) and string courses (horizontal stone bands). The windows are six over six sash windows which are set behind the brickwork making the frames appear thinner (unlike the queen anne sash which looks much wider). The position of the timber window frame was a result of the great fire of london and the building acts of 1709 and 1774, when all exposed timber was by law, made to be kept to a minimum, this included the window frames. Triangular pediment to the roof with the bulls eye window. Gibbs surround (banded architrave with keystone) to the lower windows. All very polite, well proportioned and regular in design. Entrance door portico with frieze (entablature) below the triangular pediment.
Below left, The George Hotel, 39 Baxtergate, the rear (below right) on Station Square. Similar to Haggersgate House above, with it's window architraves, pedimented central window to the first floor, stone quoins, and a more modest portico with triangular pediment and pilasters forming the entrance doorway.
next page....vernacular architecture
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