Editing Whitby (section)

==Geography==
Whitby is situated on the east coast of [[Yorkshire]] facing the [[North Sea]] in a deep valley at the mouth of the [[River Esk, North Yorkshire|River Esk]]. It has been a bridging point since at least [[medieval]] times and several bridges have spanned the river. The current bridge, built in 1908, is a swing bridge with a {{convert|75|ft|m|adj=on}} span that separates the upper and lower harbours which have a total area of around {{convert|32.40|ha|acre|order=flip}}. The houses are built of brick or stone, often with red [[Roof tile|pantiled]] roofs, in narrow, steep streets, on both sides of the river.<ref name="tde">{{cite book |chapter=Whitby |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51398#s6 |title=A Topographical Dictionary of England |pages=543–551 |year=1848 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=Samuel |publisher=British History Online |access-date=5 September 2010 |archive-date=25 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425081208/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51398#s6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The town is surrounded on its landward sides by the [[moorland]] of the [[North York Moors]] National Park and the North Sea abuts it on the seaward side. The coastal areas are designated part of the North Yorkshire and Cleveland [[Heritage Coast (England and Wales)|Heritage Coast]].<ref>{{cite web |year=2011 |title=Natural England – North Yorkshire and Cleveland |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/heritagecoasts/northyorkscleveland.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318095515/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/heritagecoasts/northyorkscleveland.aspx |archive-date=18 March 2012 |access-date=19 July 2011 |website=naturalengland.org.uk}}</ref> 
The harbour and the mouth of the River Esk are on a [[Fault (geology)|geological fault]]. On the east side the cliff is tall, {{convert|187|ft|m}}, and consists of alternating layers of shale, [[sandstone]] and [[clay]].<ref>{{cite web |year=2011 |title=Geology of Whitby, North Yorkshire |url=http://www.thewhitbyseagull.co.uk/geology_of_whitby_history_pg04.html |access-date=13 August 2011 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024223626/http://www.thewhitbyseagull.co.uk/geology_of_whitby_history_pg04.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> On the west side the cliff is much lower and has a deep capping of boulder clay over a sandstone base making it less stable and liable to slippage. Both cliffs are being eroded quite rapidly.<ref>{{cite book |last=White |first=Andrew |title=A History of Whitby |publisher=Phillimore |year=1993 |isbn=0-85033-842-5 |page=1}}</ref>

===Fossils and snakestones===
[[File:Snakestone Whitby.jpg|thumb|A snakestone from near Whitby, with head carved onto a specimen of ''Dactylioceras commune'' (Sowerby, 1815), Whitby Formation, Toarcian Stage, late Lower Jurassic. Specimen in the Natural History Museum, London.]]
The town is a coastal stretch known as the Dinosaur Coast or the Fossil Coast, the area is around {{convert|35|mi|km}} long and stretches from [[Staithes]] in the north and south to [[Flamborough]]. At Whitby dinosaur footprints are visible on the beach.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kent |first=Sir Peter |url=https://archive.org/details/britishregionalg0000kent/page/52 |title=British Regional Geology. Eastern England from the Tees to the Wash |publisher=HMSO |year=1980 |isbn=0-11-884121-1 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/britishregionalg0000kent/page/52 52–60]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Buhaenko |first=Helen |date=28 March 2009 |title=Coast watch: Tracing the footsteps of dinosaurs and Dracula in Whitby |work=[[The Independent]] |publisher=[[Independent News & Media|INM]] |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/coast-watch-tracing-the-footsteps-of-dinosaurs-and-dracula-in-whitby-1655861.html |access-date=22 July 2011 |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |archive-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111191102/http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/coast-watch-tracing-the-footsteps-of-dinosaurs-and-dracula-in-whitby-1655861.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The rock strata contain [[fossil]]s and organic remains including jet. Fossils include the petrified bones of an almost complete crocodile and a specimen of [[plesiosaurus]] measuring {{convert|15|ft|6|in|m}} in length, and {{convert|8|ft|5|in|m}} in breadth was discovered in 1841. The [[Rotunda Museum]] in Scarborough has a comprehensive collection of fossils from the area.

Smaller fossils include numerous species of [[ammonite]]s, or "snake stones", from the [[Whitby Mudstone Formation]] (Alum Shale Member) and at Whitby Scar [[Nautilus (genus)|nautiloids]] in the lower beds of the [[Lias Group|lias]] strata. The town's folklore (similar to [[Keynsham]]'s in Somerset) has it that fossils were once living serpents that were common in the area. This was until the 7th&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD when Anglo-Saxon Abbess [[Hilda of Whitby|St Hilda of Whitby]] (614–680), first had to rid the region of snakes. She did so by casting a spell that turned them to stone and then threw them from the cliff tops.

Local collectors and dealers in fossils often carved heads on ammonites to increase curiosity value and improve sales. Since 1935, the Whitby Coat of Arms incorporates three snakestones due to this folklore. The [[Hildoceras]] genus of ammonite is named in St Hilda's honour.<ref name=tde/><ref>{{cite web |year=2011 |title=''Hildoceras bifrons'' {{pipe}} Natural History Museum |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/species-of-the-day/evolution/hildoceras-bifrons/index.html |access-date=14 August 2011 |archive-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802064551/http://www.nhm.ac.uk//nature-online//species-of-the-day//evolution//hildoceras-bifrons//index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>