THE HARBOUR — EARLY HISTORY
The history of the harbour can be traced back to 1225 when King Henry III made a grant of 40 oaks from his woods to the men of Scarborough to use in the harbour. Later, in 1251 he granted a Charter to allowing the people of Scarborough to construct a new harbour with timber and stone to allow ships to enter safely in all conditions.
In 1564 Queen Elizabeth I granted £500 in money, 100 tons of timber, 6 tons of iron in aid of repairing and rebuilding the harbour.
In 1732 King George II. passed an Act to enlarge the harbour by building Vincents Pier and the present East Pier. At this time there were upwards of 300 sailing ships belonging to Scarborough.
THE PIERS
Vincents Pier, named after its engineer William Vincent, was completed in 1752. Work on construction of the East Pier began completed around 1811.
During the early years of the 19th century, the isolated inner Island Pier was demolished and the shore reused to build the West Pier from West Sandgate. This work was completed shortly after 1825.
Sandside and the approach road was constructed in conjunction with Marine Drive in 1901. Originally Quay Street was part of the Old Harbour but now it is further inland..
THE LIGHTHOUSE
The first reference to a lighthouse at the end of Vincent’s Pier occurs in 1804. A signal flag was displayed by day and a light by night when depth of water was not less than 12 feet.
In 1914, the lighthouse was seriously damaged during the bombardment of Scarborough by German cruisers and the tower had to be dismantled. It was rebuilt in 1931.
SHIP BUILDING
At the beginning of the 19th century, Scarborough was one of the principal ship building centres on the East Coast. From 1785 to 1810, 209 ships were built with a tonnage of 35,683 tons. As many as 15 ships were launched in one year.
In 1849, a company was formed to provide means for repairing ships at Scarborough. A floating dock was built capable of taking ships up to 300 tons.