Piers of Whitby

The piers of Whitby are four structures along the River Esk estuary in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. Whilst all the piers can be accessed by the general public, the piers were not built as seaside attractions – so-called pleasure piers like Redcar, Saltburn or Withernsea – but rather serving a civil purpose, such as ship loading and protecting the harbour. The main West and East piers in the town were built to provide shelter from the currents and storms of the North Sea, and in the 18th and 19th centuries, any ships seeking refuge in the harbour were charged a levy for use of Whitby's safe haven. These levies were used to pay for the maintenance and improvement of the piers.

It has been recognised that Whitby Harbour has been an important maritime centre that dates back possibly to Roman times. Fishing has always been an important and dominant industry, though this lessened in the 20th century. Historically the export of alum, the importing of coal, and then the shipbuilding industries, have been crucial to the development of the town. The River Esk harbour in Whitby is the only natural harbour between the Tees and the Humber.

Both piers were extended in the early 20th century in an effort to control low water flow and a whirlpool at the harbour entrance. The two pier extensions have been described as "... reach[ing] out to sea like the mandibles of some great insect."

Of note is that the Eskdale Anticline divides both piers, despite being only yards apart; the West Pier is built on oolitic sandstone, whereas the East Pier is on alum shale.

A record of several piers in Whitby extend back to Medieval times, with at least one document stating that a pier had existed "at the Dissolution" (1539). However, this has been described as a pier further inland than the current West and East Piers, and is thought to be what is now the Tate Hill Pier. This pier, on the east side of the River Esk, was listed as being the property of Whitby Abbey up until the Dissolution. King Henry VIII ordered that the pier should be repaired from the Crown's purse and that timber for the repairs should come from the "King's woods" in the locality. At this time, the harbour at Whitby was an export centre for alum, which led in turn to coal being imported. Then in the 17th and 18th centuries, shipbuilding became an important industry. However, the mainstay of the harbour was providing anchorage and offloading services to the fishing industry.

Sir Hugh Cholmeley built a pier on the west side of the mouth of the Esk estuary in the 17th century to protect his coal staithes. The engineering implemented in the design of this pier was used by his son, when he built the mole at Tangier in the late 17th century. Repairs to both piers were undertaken around 1632, but work had been halted by the effect of the civil war. The early piers in the town were largely constructed of a timber frame with "loose stones" dropped within the frames.

Parliament was petitioned several times in the 17th century, with one example being from 1696 stating that Whitby Harbour was "...one of the most commodious in the North of England, being able to take 500 ships of sail...but the ancient piers being much decayed the mouth of the harbour was almost choked up.." An Act of Parliament in 1702 provided the necessary funds to build two piers from stone. Collier ships seeking refuge in Whitby were charged a toll "one halfpenny per Newcastle Chaldron on all coals shipped at Newcastle, Sunderland and parts north, passing to the south..." However, all commodities were taxed on entering the harbour, and in 1720, a third act of parliament was granted whereby chaldrons of coal were charged at one farthing. The construction of the piers afforded the town a guaranteed safe haven for shipping, a coveted status for any port, and thus also aided the shipbuilding industry of the town. Between 1702 and 1908, at least twelve Acts of Parliament were passed which related directly to the upkeep, extension, renovation or building of piers at Whitby.

A map of 1740 shows the East Pier at about 750 feet (230 m) long, and the West Pier to be about 1,000 feet (300 m). However, the first Ordnance Survey map of 1849 shows the West Pier to be 1,250 feet (380 m) in length, and in 1860 the East Pier was estimated to be 313 yards (286 m). These had been repaired and extended in 1734 to 1749, and rocks in the channel between had been removed in an effort to stop sand gathering at the river mouth and forming sandbanks which were prohibitive to harbour traffic. The West Pier is 32 feet (9.8 m) above normal sea/river level, whereas the East Pier is 30 feet (9.1 m) above the water line. The current west and east piers extend into the sea either side of the River Esk mouth and provide shelter from the North Sea. The original end of the stone West Pier was rounded so that it allowed the current to flow into the river mouth. Both piers were built of sandstone in the 18th century, and had the extensions built on in the early part of the 20th century. However, the engineer Francis Pickernell, who worked for the Whitby Piers and Harbour Board, relaid the west pier in 1814, with stone from nearby Aislaby Quarry, which made the overall length of the West Pier 338 yards (309 m), the width is 16 yards (15 m), but widening to 18 yards (16 m) at the rounded end.