🌌 Darkness in Staithes: From Fear to Inspiration

Each year, International Dark Sky Week invites us to look up—to appreciate the beauty of the night sky and reflect on the importance of protecting it.

But in Staithes, darkness has never been just a backdrop.

It has shaped lives, guided fishermen, inspired stories, and even played a role in war. From the flicker of firelight to the glow of the stars, the history of this coastal village is deeply entwined with the night.

🔥 Fire in the Darkness: Burning Off the Fleet

Before modern navigation, returning to Staithes harbour was dangerous—even in daylight. At night, or during a storm, it could be fatal.

When conditions were too treacherous, the village would “burn off” the fleet. Huge fires—built from tar and old barrels—were lit along the shore, bright enough to cut through wind and sea spray. Their meaning was clear: do not attempt to land.

For fishermen, the sight was both comforting and devastating. Artist Ernest Dade described seeing the town “flame and glitter” in the darkness—home, warmth, safety—only to realise they were being turned away.

To be “burnt off” meant hours more battling the sea, seeking shelter in distant ports like Whitby or Scarborough, and facing the very real possibility of never returning home.

👻 Fear After Dark: Ghosts of the Cemetery

Darkness did not only bring physical danger—it shaped the imagination.

For centuries, the people of Staithes buried their dead at Hinderwell Cemetery, a mile away along unlit coastal paths. At night, those paths became the focus of deep-seated fear.

One famous story tells of fishermen forced ashore at Port Mulgrave during a storm. Though close to home, they refused to walk back in the dark past the cemetery, choosing instead to spend the night in their boats. Their families, believing them lost, kept vigil until morning.

Supernatural Omens and Rituals

The cemetery and its surrounding paths were the site of several spectral traditions:

• St. Mark’s Eve "Porch Watching": A terrifying local ritual involved watching the church porch at midnight on St. Mark’s Eve . It was believed that the spirits of those destined to die within the coming year would be seen entering the church in the order of their impending deaths.

• The "Waif" of James Harrison: In the 18th century, a fisherman named James Harrison fell from a 600-foot cliff to his death . For some time afterward, he became a "waif"—a ghostly double so convincing that his own relatives reportedly met and spoke with him . He appeared in various shapes and was eventually "exorcised" by a Roman Catholic priest .

• The Gabriel-ratchet: Residents feared hearing the "Gabriel-ratchet" in the still hours of the night—a sound resembling the yelping of dogs (often actually the sound of low-flying geese) that was taken as an infallible omen of death.

Interestingly, the sources suggest that some of these "ghosts" were intentionally manufactured. During the height of the smuggling era, it was a common ruse to circulate lurid stories of walking skeletons and headless corpses to ensure the local populace avoided certain areas after dark . These "fearsome spirits" effectively guarded the privacy of graveyard paths and secluded bays where contraband was being moved .

Not every encounter was supernatural. One local account tells of a man passing the churchyard in the early morning hours who was terrified to see "hands coming out of a grave" . Thinking the dead were rising, he was stunned when a voice from the earth asked, "Have you got a match mate?"—it was merely a gravedigger who had started his work at five in the morning to beat the heat .

In the darkness, the boundary between the real and the imagined grew thin.

🏮 Lighting the Way: The First Lanterns

By 1884, Staithes began to change its relationship with the night.

Through a public subscription, villagers funded two permanent lanterns overlooking the harbour, along with a keeper to tend them. For the first time, there was a steady, reliable light.

These became “leading lights.”

Fishermen aligned the two lanterns—one above the other—to guide their boats safely through the narrow channel and avoid the hidden reefs.

Artist Laura Knight later wrote of the “romance in those lights that guided the men home.”

Other lights followed:

• Smugglers’ “spout lanterns,” used for secret signals - these threw a beam in only one direction, allowing a signal to be sent from the shore to a smuggling vessel without alerting the rest of the village

• A flashing gas light installed by the 1930s

• Electricity arriving in 1936, remembered as “light that came out of bottles”

The village was no longer entirely at the mercy of darkness—but the night still mattered.

⭐ A Map in the Sky: Navigating by the Stars

Long before GPS, the night sky itself was a navigational tool.

James Cook, who began his maritime career on this coast, would go on to navigate vast distances using the stars.

Celestial navigation relied on careful observation:

• Using stars to determine direction

• Measuring their angle above the horizon

• Combining this with time and charts to calculate position

The same stars seen from Staithes guided voyages across the Pacific. Crossing into the southern hemisphere meant learning entirely new constellations—new patterns in an unfamiliar sky.

Darkness, once feared, became a source of knowledge.

✈️ Darkness at War

During the World Wars, darkness took on a new role.

It became a defence.

Strict blackouts ensured that Staithes could not be used as a landmark by enemy aircraft. Windows were covered, lights extinguished, and movement at night carefully controlled.

Hidden within this darkness was a secret technology: the “Meacon,” which intercepted and rebroadcast German navigation signals, misleading enemy pilots. In July 1941, a Junkers Ju 88 crashed into the cliffs at Brackenberry Wyke in fog and darkness, killing all on board.

At the same time, the skies above Staithes filled with Allied aircraft. Vast formations gathered overhead, their engines a constant presence in the night. Witnesses described so many planes that they seemed to darken the sky itself.

Darkness was no longer empty—it was alive with conflict.

🎨 Inspiration in the Night

Yet throughout all these changes, darkness continued to inspire. Writers and artists have long captured the atmosphere of Staithes after dark.

In 1846, John Walker Ord described moonlit rocks, shimmering sails, and waves that sounded like “songs of sea-nymphs.” Laura Knight remembered the sound of sea spray striking the roof at night, while Nelly Erichsen described the village alive before dawn with lanterns and the rhythmic calls of fishermen. Others captured its darker side. Ernest Dade wrote of the heartbreak of being turned away from a glowing home by the "burning-off" fires, while Rudyard Kipling evoked the secrecy of smuggling in the night.

Even in modern times, the sounds of Staithes after dark—waves, voices, distant engines—continue to shape how the village is experienced and imagined.

🌠 Protecting the Night Today

Today, the night skies above Staithes are part of something internationally significant.

The North York Moors National Park is recognised as an International Dark Sky Reserve, one of a small number of protected areas worldwide where the night remains largely free from light pollution. This status reflects years of work to preserve darkness—not just for stargazing, but for wildlife, heritage, and wellbeing.

🌌 A landscape made for stargazing

Each year, the National Park celebrates this with its Dark Skies Festival (13 February – 1 March 2026), a major programme of events designed to help people experience the night in new ways .

The festival includes:

• Guided stargazing sessions led by astronomers

• Night walks across moorland, woodland, and coastline

• Astrophotography workshops capturing the landscape after dark

• Creative and wellbeing experiences, from storytelling to mindful “dusking”

• Family-friendly trails and activities introducing children to the night sky

Events take place across the National Park—from Sutton Bank to Dalby Forest and along the coast—making the dark sky something people can actively explore, rather than just observe.

You can explore current events and activities here:👉 Explore Dark Skies events in the North York Moors

🔭 New ways to experience the night

In recent years, the National Park has also invested in new infrastructure to support dark sky experiences.

A key development is the Dark Skies Station at Danby Lodge, a dedicated space for stargazing, events, and learning. It brings together expert-led sessions, accessible facilities, and some of the darkest skies in the region .

Alongside this, self-led experiences like the Dark Skies Trail encourage visitors to explore at their own pace—following routes, discovering constellations, and learning about the night sky through interpretation and activities .

💡 Protecting darkness, not just celebrating it

The work of the National Park goes beyond events.

Protecting dark skies involves practical, everyday changes:

• Reducing unnecessary outdoor lighting

• Directing light downward to minimise glare

• Encouraging communities to switch off lights when not needed

• Working with local businesses to adopt “dark sky friendly” practices

These small changes have a big impact—helping nocturnal wildlife thrive, improving human health, and restoring our ability to see the stars.

Research has shown that visitors to dark skies events often go on to change their own habits—reducing light pollution at home and becoming more aware of the night environment .

🌍 A different relationship with the night

For centuries, darkness in Staithes was something to endure, fear, or overcome.

Today, it is something to value.

Through festivals, conservation, and community action, the North York Moors is helping us rediscover the night—not as empty or dangerous, but as rich, beautiful, and worth protecting.

And in doing so, it ensures that the same skies that guided fishermen, inspired artists, and witnessed history can still be experienced by future generations.

✨ A Changing Darkness

In Staithes, darkness has never meant just one thing.

It has been:

• A warning

• A danger

• A guide

• A source of knowledge

• A cover for conflict

• And an inspiration for creativity

Today, we no longer rely on firelight or stars to survive.

But by protecting our dark skies, we ensure that the stories, experiences, and beauty of the night are not lost.

So next time you find yourself in Staithes after sunset, take a moment to look up.

You are seeing the same sky that guided fishermen, inspired artists, and watched over centuries of life in the village.

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