Whitby whalebone arch

Whitby whalebone arch stands above the harbour at Whitby, framing the view from the West Cliff. Though it can appear to be an ancient remnant of the town’s whaling past, the arch was first erected in 1962, and its replacement jaws came from a different whale and across the ocean. Its history makes the monument both a striking local landmark and a record of how whale remains have been reused and reinterpreted.

Setting and Form

The arch is formed from a whale’s jaws and stands above the harbour, among the elegant houses built by Whitby whaling captains on the West Cliff. The position links the monument to the town’s maritime landscape: below it lay the harbour and the whaling port, while the captains’ homes stood above the stinking work of processing their fortunes. The arch’s silhouette gives that history a conspicuous place in the modern townscape.

A Changing Monument

The first jaws came from a Blue whale and were erected in 1962. They were later replaced by the jaws of a Bowhead whale, presented by the people of Alaska. The arch is therefore not a single, unchanged relic: its material history includes replacement and a gift from far beyond Whitby, while its recognizable form continued to frame the harbour.

Whale Bone in the Town

The arch belongs to a broader history of making use of whale remains. In Whitby, bones were also used as timbers in roofs and walls, and ribs and jaws became parts of houses and workshops. Against that practical reuse, the arch turns whale bone into a public monument. Its apparent antiquity, recalled by the narrator’s childhood impression, gives way to a more specific history: a twentieth-century installation whose successive jaws keep the town’s whaling associations visible.