Scarborough Heritage Trail
2.2 miles (3.5 km)This circular walk explores the town of Scarborough, visiting several of the local historical highlights.
The walk starts from The Grand Hotel and visits the Royal Hotel, the Town Hall, Newborough Bar, Trinity House, The Bolts, the Harbour, King Richard III House and Anne Brontes grave in St.... Mary's churchyard.
The walk begins at the iconic Grand Hotel, which opened in 1867 as the largest hotel in Europe. Designed by architect Cuthbert Brodrick, the building's structure is a mathematical tribute to time, featuring four towers for the seasons, 12 floors for the months, 52 chimneys for the weeks, and originally 365 rooms for the days of the year. A short walk leads to the Royal Hotel, a Grade II listed building that maintains a grand staircase and has hosted famous figures like Winston Churchill and the Beatles.
Continuing through the town, the route passes the Town Hall and Newborough Bar, the site of the town’s medieval gates where a local tradition involves the ringing of a "Pancake Bell" every Shrove Tuesday. The trail then heads toward Trinity House, which was rebuilt in 1832 and historically served as a guild and almshouse for retired mariners, reflecting Scarborough’s deep maritime roots.
Entering the older quarters, you will navigate The Bolts, a series of narrow, atmospheric alleyways that lead toward the bustling Harbour. Here stands King Richard III House, a 15th-century stone building where the monarch is reputed to have stayed in 1484 while overseeing his Northern Fleet. The walk concludes with a climb to St. Mary's churchyard, the final resting place of novelist Anne Brontë. Her grave, marked by a stone with a famous age error (stating 28 instead of 29), looks out over the South Bay she loved, situated just beneath the walls of Scarborough Castle.
Ordnance Survey Map
OpenStreetMap
OS Map (Mobile GPS)
OpenStreetMap (Mobile GPS)
Interactive Map
Route Video
Nearby Routes
Scarborough Sea Cut and Scalby Beck Walk Scarborough to Filey Scarborough Scarborough to Ravenscar Walk Ravenscar to Boggle Hole Beach Walk
Photos
When she fell terminally ill with tuberculosis in 1849, she insisted on one last trip to the seaside, believing the salt air might provide a miracle cure. She stayed at a lodging house where the Grand Hotel stands today, even taking a final carriage ride along the beach just days before she passed away at age 29.
She is the only Brontë sibling not buried in the family vault at Haworth; her sister Charlotte chose to bury her at St. Mary’s Churchyard to "lay the flower where it had fallen." Her headstone became a piece of local lore because it originally contained a mistake, incorrectly stating she was 28 years old when she died.
.jpg)