The Holbeck Hall Hotel began life as a private mansion called Wheatcroft Cliff built for Mr George Alderson-Smith, a local trawler owner. It was converted into a hotel in 1932 by Tom Laughton, brother of Hollywood actor Charles, at which time the name was changed to Holbeck Hall. Tom also ran other Scarborough hotels. Set in three acres of lawns, gardens and woodland, the hotel soon became the town’s most exclusive, eventually the only one to gain four stars. After the war the hotel changed hands numerous times until 1979 when the Turner family’s English Rose Hotels acquired it.
On the morning of Friday 4th June 1993, guests at the hotel were awoken after cracks were discovered in the gardens by a local dogwalker, who informed the hotel. The guests that morning had also noticed cracks and jammed doors. The 50 people staying there were quickly evacuated, though they were unable to retrieve their belongings after another 14 feet of lawn was lost while they got ready to leave. Guests were not charged for breakfast.
A huge landslip carried the gardens 60 metres (200 ft) down into the sea, at its fastest claiming 3 metres (10 ft) an hour of land. The rose garden, about 137 metres (150 yards) from the hotel, was among the first areas to disappear, followed by the conservatory and the restaurant. The final collapse came on the night of 5th June, when the northeast wing was destroyed. Luckily no one was harmed.
While the hotel’s owners were devastated by the loss of the hotel, Joan Turner comparing it to ‘losing your first love’, many people could not help but watch. As crowds gathered on the beach, some saw a business opportunity, one man selling souvenir t-shirts. Newspapers joked about ‘faltering towers’ and a ‘real-life cliff-hanger’ while following the story closely.
The portion of the building still standing was finally demolished on 19th July, and the next week a memorial service was held for the hotel at the local St Martin’s Church. The surrounding area was found to be safe, and it was stabilised with 30,000 tonnes of rock armour.
