Staithes Museum

In this blog post, I'll tell you a bit about my favourite romance in the history of Staithes. The Secret Staithes Diary of Enid Lucy Pease Robinson, edited by James Hart and published in 2010, is a unique first-hand account of life in Staithes during the summer of 1901. Written by a 20-year-old woman from the prominent Pease family of Darlington, the diary was discovered at an auction in West Sussex nearly a century after it was written. The "Secret" Nature of the Diary The journal is called...

Hello, all! Please find linked here the latest Staithes Museum newsletter. A text-only version is below this message. This month's edition includes updates on our rolling ball clock, a new family activity sheet inspired by Staithes smugglers, reflections from a museum symposium in Plymouth, an update on our social media experiments, and news of a rather unusual upcoming visit from some ghost hunters. There's also a look at what we're tentatively calling "The Bill Hinchley Effect" and the...

For over a century after 1720, the village of Staithes was a major hub for the "Free Trade" - better known as smuggling. While official industries like fishing and ironstone production were important, smuggling formed a vital "hidden economy" that supplemented the income of almost every resident. The unique architecture of the town, with its labyrinthine network of passages, attic hatches, and hidden cellars, made it the perfect haunt for evading the law. Smuggling was a true community...