Moby Dick whale’s home revamp

According to a contemporary diarist, the “monster” bull sperm whale which had floundered onto the shore created a “marvellous bustle” in the neighbourhood.

The nearby village of Hilston “was quite gay, more gay than sweet, for many of the scientific gentlemen, who made no scruple to bury their hands and arms in blubber went immediately to wash them and dine”.

Now the same whale which provided the bones for the American classic Moby Dick is basking in attention again after nearly £500,000 was awarded to repair its final resting place.

The 58.5ft (17.8m) skeleton will benefit from £417,800 of National Lottery funding to restore its home in the Grade I listed red-brick stable block at Burton Constable Hall in the East Riding countryside.

After it was washed up the whale was publicly dissected by the eminent Hull physician Dr James Alderson, who discovered it bore the marks of old skirmishes, including part of the sword from a swordfish.

Later its skeleton was carted off to the hall, seat of Sir Thomas Clifford Constable, Lord of the Seigniory of Holderness.

There it was mounted on wrought iron framework in the park for visitors to examine its cunningly articulated skeleton, with its jaws wired so that they could be moved.

Its story eventually reached the ears of Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, who wrote an entertaining account of the attraction in his classic novel.

The display eventually collapsed in the 20th century and lay rotting in a field outside the hall until it was a barely recognisable, moss-covered pile.

In 1996 the whale was excavated and cleaned up by zoologist Mike Boyd. It went back on display five years ago.

The estate is now owned by the Burton Constable Foundation, which manages it as a museum.

Director Dr David Connell said the award was “a fantastic opportunity” which meant the “renaissance” of the Hall and its surrounding parkland could continue.

Repairs will start later this year on the imposing stable block which includes stalls, grooms’ quarters and the stable master’s room. It consists of two buildings arranged around two courtyards, one to stable riding and carriage horses, the other to accommodate farming stock. It was built to the south east of the main Hall in around 1770 to the designs of the architect Timothy Lightoler and in 1842 the large indoor riding school was added.

The Great Barn will continue
to be the home to the skeleton 
of the whale with a new 
display.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant will restore the original 1770 and later 19th century features and create new volunteer facilities, community exhibitions and workshop spaces. There will be open access days during the restoration.

Fiona Spiers, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for Yorkshire and the Humber, said the stable block was “of national significance”.

“This project, once complete, will bring to life the important role that horses played in our social and economic history, while giving lots of people of 
all ages the chance to get 
involved in the process,” she added.

The Seigniory was a title founded by William the Conqueror in 1067 which made royal fish, as whales were called, the property of the holder.

Records dating back hundreds of years outline claims of various whales coming ashore. Sperm whales were the most valuable because of their oil.

Paying visitors to see the whale included author Thomas Beale who wrote up an account of the dissection in his hugely influential The Natural History of the Sperm Whale.

A few years later Melville came to England to research Moby Dick.

He probably never came to Holderness to inspect it himself but he was so taken with the story he included a direct reference to it in his 1851 novel.

Sadly the whale will never be rearticulated. Only around 70 per cent of the skeleton, vertebrae and jaws are left.