Saturday 12th February 2000
Today's walk: Sandsend to Mulgrave Castle (and back)
Sandsend & Sandsend Ness from the beach
Situated about 2 miles north-west of Whitby, Sandsend is aptly named, a 2½ - mile stretch of golden sands from West Pier, Whitby ends at the cliffs of Sandsend Ness. If you walk along the old railway track, which is part of the Cleveland Way, from the village towards the Ness there is still evidence of a once thriving alum industry dating from the 17th century and vital to the industrial revolution. The mines closed in 1871 but another industry soon flourished producing a cement capable of repairing the sea wall between tides and known as Sandsend Roman Cement
Our walk starts at the East Row entrance to the Mulgrave Estate Woodland which is open to the public all year round on Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays (except closed in May)
A pleasant track takes us through both deciduous and coniferous woodland . . .
. . . alongside East Row Beck as it wends its way to the North Sea
After about 1½ miles of walking we arrive at the impressive ruins of Mulgrave Castle
( Restoration work to the ruins is ongoing with help provided by the English Heritage Fund )
Mulgrave Castle is
perched on a neck of land between East Row and Sandsend Becks
- today the steep hillsides below the walls were carpeted in
snowdrops, next will come the primroses.
The ruins are of several periods, protected by a massive curtain
wall supported by huge buttresses.
It originally dates from around 1200 - the keep was altered in
the 15th century and the castle was enlarged domestically in the
16th century.
The ground plan is that of an irregular four-sided enclosure with
a central keep, the entrance guarded by twin circular towers
which rose above a moat crossed by a drawbridge. The castle was
ruinous in 1309, but was in a habitable state in the Civil War
when it was held for the king. It was destroyed in 1647, £1000
being paid by Parliament in compensation to the owner.
A more recent Mulgrave Castle, the seat of the Marquis of
Normanby, lies about a mile north-east of the old ruins
More photos of the ruins . . .
. . . anyone for bows and arrows?
Here the walls are approximately 6 - 8 feet thick
We say farewell to the castle and start our return journey to Sandsend
We're soon back on a good track - these rhododendrons will be worth returning to see when they bloom in early summer
Looking east from Mulgrave Estate we get a good view of Whitby about 2½ miles away
We emerge from the Estate about half-way up the steep Lythe Bank
From Lythe Bank - another view of Whitby in the distance with Sandsend lying at the bottom of the hill
Finally, a couple of pictures of the old village of Sandsend and Sandsend Beck
back to top of page
go to Homepage
or to my Archives Page