Scarborough Castle [antikvár]

Department oj theEnvironmentScarboroiigh CastleFew visitors to Scarborough can fail to be aware of the Castle. The massive headland of Casde Hill, at its highest point over 300 ft above sea level and 100 ft above the town, separates the North and South Bays. From the South Bay and the harbour, the Castíe's cur-tain wall encrusts the skyline; from the North Bay and beyond, it is the tower of the keep that stands out, like a ruined lighthouse.Any history of Casde Hill must begin at a time long before the casde was built. Excavations have shown that there was a prehistoric setde-ment on the eastern, or seaward, side of the headland, and this same spot was later chosen for a Román signal station.Casde Hill is a wedge-shaped block, with pre-cipitous cliffs on the north and east sides. On the west side a narrow neck connects it with the mainland, and on the south-west side the steep ravine known as Casde Dykes marks the line of a fault, or fracture, in the rocks on which Scarborough stands. Two more faults, origin-ally pointed out by William Smith, the Father of English Geology, cross the neck of land below the Casde's barbican. These faults re-sulted in a great block of tough grit and limestone being dropped into the softer rocks which have now been excavated by the sea into North and South Bays. So Casde Hill stands out like a clenched fist on this stretch of coast, protecting the harbour and the town behind it.