Area Guide

Ravenscar is a quiet village situated on the North Yorkshire Coast approximately 10 miles south of Robin Hood’s Bay, 14 miles south of Whitby and 10 miles north of Scarborough. Ravenscar is part of the North Yorkshire Heritage Coast and is within the North York Moors National Park.

The holiday resort that never was

Back in the Victorian era there was great interest by a development company to turn Ravenscar into a coastal holiday resort that would rival other UK coastal resorts such as nearby Scarborough and that of Blackpool. Plans were made, building plots were designed but it was never meant to be and the holiday resort remained only an idea. This was mainly down to the fact that Ravenscar is on the top of a cliff, with shear drops and no beach at the bottom.

Peak Alum Works

Just north of the village there is the remains of the Peak Alum Works which is now an English Heritage site. The Peak Alum Works once produced a chemical called Alum. Alum was essential to the booming English woollen textile industry as it was used to brighten up the dyes.

The Peak Alum works was pretty much the only place in Britain that could produce this chemical, and became one of Britain’s first chemical industries. To produce the Alum they would use shale from the surrounding cliffs which was put into large bonfires and left to smoulder for around nine months and then immersed in water to produce the Alum.

Cleveland Way

The 110 mile, National Trust Cleveland Way runs from Helmsley in the North York Moors National Park to the Brigg at Filey and passes through Ravenscar on route.