Views from Plantation Hill in Scarborough

An extract from Meadleys Memorials of Scarborough - Scarborough from Grove Head, in 1822



"I love to pause, and quit the public road,
To gain a summit, take a view, or pluck
An Unknown blossum"

The above is a view of Scarborough from an extremence called the Grove Head, situated at the extremity of the Plantation Walk, in the immediate environs of the town, and at the back of a fine sheet of water called the fish pond. At the time this view was taken, Grove Head was dscribed as being on a smooth surface, having benches theron, and "capable of accomadating a numerous party, a plantation of thriving young oaks through which is cut a winding path leading to the before mentioned piece of water, which is encompassed with a bank, admirably adapted for promenading. At the foot of this lake is a sweet retreat, called the Mill Cottage, and is a very picture of rural neatness and elegance; in front is seen a pleasant plot of garden ground, lately opened as a tea garden, and when a few years have cast their shade over this retired building, we may hope to find it embosomed in verdant foilage; beyond this, the tastefully laid out plantation of Scarborough uprears its head in rural grandeur. To the right of the buildings connected with the Mill, appears a delightful opening through the path of the valley, on the borders of the wood of Scarborough, affording a view of old ocean's bed, where

"ride the ships In that enchanting bay, with streamers curl'd, And passing sails that, whiten'd by sea, Glisten afar,"

The view is from the original drawing by the late Mr Matthew Baynes, a native artist of much celebrity, who died on the 10th of February, 1866. The engraving was executed by Mr A. Mason, and formed part of Mr John Cole's illustrated "Sketches of Scarborough" in 1822. Let us now drop the curtain on the past and take a view of the present scene from the same spot. The locality described above has been considerably altered and improved since then; the Grove Head remains as in days of yore, and the Mill and its surroundings have disappeared and given place to a beautiful park, picturesque villas, neat gardens, tastefully laid out walks and drives, and spanned over by the ornamental arches of the Valley Bridge, and in the distance is seen the Cliff Bridge, the majestic old Castle, and the German Ocean, forming a tout ensemble which must be seen to realise the change of years.



OTHER ARTICLES
• Funny stories from the age of sailing ships in Scarborough
• Dennis Allen - stories from the sea
• Stories of human interest from the sea port of Scarborough
• Coastal erosion in the 19th Century around the North Bay and Scarborough Castle area
• The national RNLI and the Scarborough lifeboat of 1861.
• A sea shanty about a storm on the Scarborough coast
• The port of Scarborough in the late 15th Century
• Thomas Crimlisk - First of the Crimlisks
• Harwood Brierleys description of Scarborough harbour at the opening of the 20th century
• The early years of the Scarborough Lifeboat
• Tommy Rowley - stories about loss of life at sea
• Stories from Flamborough Head and Filey
• Scarborough sailing ship - a man overboard
• The 200 year history of scarboroughs RNLI
• Strange customs amongst the Scarborough shipbuilders
• Log of the German U-Boat which sank eleven Scarborough trawlers in 1916
• Shipping Ironstone down the coast by John Rushton
• The German bombardment of scarborough in the First World War in 1914
• The Borough of Scarborough formed in the 12th Century

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