Saltwick Bay: History of Yorkshire bay hidden gem known as ‘dinosaur beach’ near Whitby where visitors can go fossil hunting

Saltwick Bay is a beach located one mile to the east of Whitby and has the Saltwick Nab alum quarries which are listed under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

The bay is part of the Saltwick Formation and is popular for its wide variety of fossils, including dinosaur prints; some people refer to the North Yorkshire coastline, including Saltwick Bay, as a ‘Jurassic age graveyard’.

Its vast collection of fossils include ammonites, reptiles, shells and jet.

The SS Rohilla hospital ship sank in the bay in 1914, and the fishing trawler Amiral Van Tromp was shipwrecked at Saltwick Bay in 1976.

The location is considered a hidden gem for families looking for a day trip near Whitby as its location is quite concealed.

History of Saltwick Bay

An alum is a form of chemical compound, generally a hydrated double sulfate salt of aluminium and it was first extracted from a quarry at Saltwick Bay, with the first recorded quarrying being by Sir Hugh Chomley, who lived at Whitby Abbey, in the 17th century.

The alum quarries were built on promontories and were eventually closed down in 1791.

There is also evidence of a medieval harbour at Saltwick Bay, and during the 1900s, Saltwick Bay and Whitby harbour had a triangular shale reef.

Extractions from quarries led to the discovery of fossils and the bay has since built itself a reputation for being a fossil hunting spot, particularly from the Lower Jurassic period.

The most common fossils found at Saltwick Bay include the Dactylioceras and Hildoceras, as well as fossilised plant remains.

The Black Nab is an island in the bay where you can find cuspiteuthis tubularis fossils and in around 1764, a horse skeleton was found roughly 27 metres underground in the alum mines at Saltwick Bay.

A nearly complete skeleton of the extinct teleosaurid Steneosaurus bollensis was found at the bay in 1824 and it is now displayed at the Whitby Museum.

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Other crocodile skeletons of Steneosaurus brevior have been discovered at the bay and other skeletons include an ichthyosaur and a plesiosaur (Sthenarosaurus).

The hospital ship SS Rohilla sank near Saltwick Nab in 1914 and 146 of the 229 passengers on board, including Captain Neilson, all the nurses and Titanic survivor Mary Kezia Roberts, survived.

The rescue mission proved extremely difficult, but lifeboats from Whitby, Upgang, Redcar, Tynemouth and Scarborough made efforts to close on the wreck.

Just three years later, the bay became the scene of another shipwreck of the SS Brentwood, which was owned by William Cory and Son. It was sunk by German mines.

During the Second World War, the bay was used as a gun point and in 1976, the trawler Admiral Van Tromp was wrecked in the bay; two people on board died and the remains of the trawler are still visible in the bay