Staithes Museum

Meet the remarkable mechanism at Staithes Museum that celebrates John Harrison’s quest to solve one of the great challenges of seafaring: how do you know exactly where you are when all you can see is sea? There is something wonderfully satisfying about the Devon Sea Clock at Staithes Museum. With its brass gears, swinging arms, intricate framework and three separate dials, it looks as though somebody has taken a clock apart and then decided to leave all the interesting bits on the outside....

What did it feel like to grow up in Staithes in the early twentieth century? What did children wear, what did they get up to, and what happened when you wanted to go to Sunday School but your clothes weren't quite up to scratch? We can find out from an unlikely source: a life story written by the Reverend W. T. Mugford, who left Yorkshire for America and eventually became a Baptist minister. His booklet, From an English Pit to an American Pulpit, recounts a life of faith, family separations...

From homemade remedies and cliffside rescues to the great storm of 1953, Edward Hugill’s memories offer a remarkable glimpse into life in Staithes during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. What was it like growing up in Staithes when fishing and ironstone mining shaped everyday life, neighbours looked after one another, and a man with a first-aid kit could find himself treating anything from a broken arm to an injured cow? Edward Hugill was born at Wavecrest, on Seaton Garth, on 27 September 1936....