The geological basis of a town's development. Castle Hill from the south. Scarborough is dominated by Castle Hill, a promentory rising to nearly 100m above sea level. On either side of Castle hill the cliffs are relatively low.
Sandy beaches run north and south.
The Site is a perfect natural defensive position and the headland was the site of an iron age fort from approtely 700-400 B.C., one of the most northerly of its type in Britain. The town was founded in A.D.967 by scandinavians, the name deriving from Skarthaborg or Scartheburg, the stronghold of Skarth the Harelipped. Later the Normans erected a castle , substantial remains of which remain. The Normans utilised the fault line running across the headland to build a great defensive ditch before the outer walls were built in the twelth century. The headland creates one of the few natural harbours between Whitby and the Humber, providing protection from storms from the north and north-east.