In the district of Fylingdales, known from the earliest times as "the two Figelings", lie the villages of Fylingthorpe and Robin Hood's Bay. They reach from the 'scaures' of the bay sheltered by crumbling cliffs up to moorland of heather and bog with small streams while sea birds soar overhead.

Ancient man of the Bronze and Iron Age was here, Romans looked down from their fort at Ravenscar, Norsemen raided. Over the centuries the land became the property of the church. Fyling Old Hall was the ancient grange of the Abbot. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Fylingdales passed into lay hands.

Just before the Dissolution the name of Robin Hood is first known as applying to Bay, although it may have been used for many years before as the story of Robin Hood dates to the 1200s. One story is that he shot an arrow from Stoupe Brow and where it landed he founded his settlement, now Bay Town.

Robin Hood's Bay can be divided into two distinct parts; The older, lower part and the upper, with its Victorian houses.

Known locally as Bay Town, the old part of the village with its cottages, some from the 17th century, runs down to the dock. At times the tide still invades the lower streets. In 1780 raging seas, surging into the bay, swept away 22 cottages. The last cottage to be washed away was in 1960. To protect the village a sea wall was built in and recently giant boulders were placed to reduce the force of the tide.

Fishing and smuggling, sometimes supplemented by wrecking, were occupations of the inhabitants of old Bay. In the early 19th century when Whitby had only nine fishermen and there were just three large boats in Scarborough, Bay had five "of good size" and thirty five cobles. At one time 173 ships had Bay owners. A lifeboat service was run by the village until a Royal National Lifeboat Service Station was established in 1881. This ran until 1931 and rescued 91 people.

The upper part of Robin Hood's Bay is mainly Victorian, and many a Master Mariner lived and retired here. In 1870 the new St Stephen's Church opened replacing the old church, which still stands outside the village. In 1885 the railway came, running from Whitby to Scarborough, and although closed in 1965, the trackway still provides a pathway along the route.

The Domesday Book records two villages, Fyling and North Fyling. The village of Fylingthorpe, known by locals as "Thorpe", originates from these and consists mainly of housing and farms, as well as providing amenities for tourists and holiday makers to stay and explore the area.
©G M McInerny Page 2 8/9/2005