Whitby Museum
Art Gallery and Panett Park

Get your fill of history, culture and the macabre at the fascinating Museum in Whitby.

We had a great day out ... we tell you all about what we saw...

We spent a lovely day out at the Whitby Museum in Pannett Park.

We'd waited for a rainy day to come here - but I think you needn't wait for a rainy day to visit. The museum was packed full of artefacts, and filled with interesting information, to enhance any visit to Whitby.

The Museum is located on the west side of town, in the newly restored Pannett Park.

Pannett Art Gallery

Enter the large building, and immediately enter the Art Gallery.

The Pannett Art Gallery is free, and run by Whitby Town Council.

There are ever-changing artistic works displayed here.

At the date of our visit (July 2010) we enjoyed admiring the huge, colourful works of local artist Len Tabner, inspired by the sea - stunning!

Whitby Museum

Cheaper prices are available to children, students, senior citizens and groups.

Whitby residents can get in free (on proof of residency).

We also purchased an interesting guide for £3.40, and were given a vey useful, free floor plan, with the locations of 10 'Don't Miss' items.

The museum attendant was very helpful and very knowledgeable.

He oriented us into the museum nicely, and then later came up to us, and explained some of the exhibits, and showed us, and talked about, various other exhibits with interesting stories attached, which he thought might interest us.

(He didn't even know I was reviewing the museum for the website! ...and was equally helpful to other visitors too!)

He was very friendly and enthusiastic and really brought some of the exhibits to life for us - a real asset to the museum!

The museum itself looked slightly smaller inside than I had expected from outside, but it is completely jam-packed full of interesting exhibits, in an old-fashioned, charming, nostalgic style - and was very informative.

The museum holds the most complete prehistoric marine crocodile skeleton - it's very impressive!

Some of the artefacts and exhibits which caught our attention were:

• The Fossil Collection
  • These were complete fossils, not casts
  • The complete marine crocodile fossil
  • Some huge marine dinosaurs - some even had smaller and tiny fossils within the main fossil
  • Dinosaur footprints
  • All were found locally









• The Butterfly Collection
• The Bird Collections
• The Animal Collections
• All these above were mainly resident and native species, and many were also impressive examples of taxidermy.
• The Jet Collection
  • Victorian jet jewellery
  • Intricate carved jet models
  • 2 rare jet and ammonite chessboards, seem at the time of creation (in Victorian Whitby) as 'the very pinnacle of craftsmanship'.
• The Tempest Prognosticator
  • To forecast thunderstorms
  • Leeches were placed in jars of rainwater, which were attached by thin wires to a bell
  • Leeches are very sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure
  • When they sense a thunderstorm approaching, they begin to climb up the jar
  • This then rings the bell
  • A replica was built in modern times - when it was tried out, it worked! ...and gave 2 days notice of an approaching thunderstorm!
• The Hangman's Noose Necklace
  • It used to be said that wearing a bit of a hanged man's noose around your neck prevented sore throats
  • A macabre necklace with a bit of noose rope, and a ghoulish model of a dead man and gibbett.
• Some incredibly uncomfortable-looking gentlemen's high heeled shoes for nights out about town.
• A Chinese Pirate's Plait
  • The Chinese Pirates grew their hair long to represent their power.
  • When the pirates were captured (by westerners) they chopped the hair off - and brought it home as a souvenir!
• The Hand of Glory
  • 'Main de Gloire'
  • This was found by a gentleman who moved into a house in Danby, and found the hand over a lintel
  • The name is thought to be a corruption of 'mandragora' (mandrake) - a plant root shaped like a man, that was said to scream when it was dug up, and killed all who heard it.
  • Magical powers were attributed to plant, including sleeping powers - and thus to the Hand of Glory.
  • The Hand of Glory is the hand of a hanged man - bought from the local witch, or scavenged yourself.
  • These hands were thought to be frequently used by burglars - who lit the fingers of the hand, or placed a lit candle in the hand - which would magically keep the inhabitants of the house from awakening - so giving you time and privacy to conduct your burglary and evil deeds.
  • The Hand of Glory is sometimes thought to be able to unlock any door - 'handy' for burglars (pardon the pun!)
  • The Hand of Glory itself is on display - wizened, withered, shrivelled, but remarkable intact - it's incredibly macabre and ghoulish - but we were still drawn to it - and it's always one of the Museum's most popular exhibits - Don't Miss It!



• The Old Abbots Book
  • Lists of endowments, tithes etc of Whitby Abbey - and an account of the founding of the Abbey.
  • From the 11th Century to the Dissolution in 1539
  • Extremely old, and kept under cover, so it's not damaged by light.
  • Right by the entrance, and desk
• Gingerbread fancy moulds
• Ivory boats
  • Beautiful, with great attention to detail - so delicate, with even little tiny men on deck
• Bone Ships
  • Made from the bones saved from sailors' meat rations
  • Intricate and beautiful
• Objects in Lightbulbs
  • No-one (except the creator) knows how they get in there! A trade secret!
  • Tennis ball in a lightbulb, flowers in a lightbulb
  • It is the same idea of a ship in a bottle, but these are rigid objects, not folding, like the ships.
• Interesting commentary and display on 'Stumper' - a Whitby fisherman with a wooden leg, who appears in many of Sutcliffe's photographs.
  • Stumper was 'disabled' by today's standards, but in Sutcliffe's time we see how he still worked as a fisherman, and played a full part in his community.
• Witchpost
  • This protects the house from witches
  • Often a door post, or a post integral to the structure of the house
  • These were common around Whitby
• Interesting fragments of a beautiful stained glass window from Whitby Abbey (made in York).
• Costume Gallery
  • Upstairs
  • Victorian costumes, including bathing costumes
  • A fascinating screen, decorated with thousands of stamps

Whitby Museum Tea Room

We stopped for a break at the Whitby Museum Tea Room, downstairs.

We just had a drink, but they serve:

• sandwiches
• scones
• cakes
• jacket potatoes
• drinks
• teas
• coffees

It was a bit too noisy to relax properly, because of a generator, or fan of some kind, but it was clean, welcoming and good value, and it was great to be able to take a break from looking around the fascinating collections and exhibits.

Pannett Park

• Jurassic Garden
• Recreated Lily Pond and Pavilion
• The Floral Clock Display
• Children's Play Area
• South Sea Garden (in Little Park - also has picnic tables)
• Garden of Contemplation and Commemoration (with great views through the trees, across to the Abbey)
• Fantastic views across Whitby

History of Whitby Museum, Art Gallery and Pannett Park

• The Museum was founded as the 'Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society' in 1823, and grew from there to save local fossils and curios for the town
• 1928 - Pannett Art Gallery opened
• 1931 - Museum in Pannett Park opened
• Whitby Museum is an independent museum and is run by volunteers from the 'Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society'
• It is a registered museum and a registered charity

We really enjoyed our trip to Whitby Museum - it was jam-packed full of exhibits, with so muc to see and look at.

It was a very interesting and informative visit. We were there more than one and a half hours, and I don't think we saw everything - I'm sure you could look at something different every time you visited.

Whitby Museum, Pannett Park and Art Gallery on the Map

Whitby Museum is on the West side of Whitby, a little way away from the town centre.

We parked at the West Cliff Leisure Centre Car Park and the Museum was a short stroll away, just across the road, within Pannett Park itself.

This map is interactive.

• Just use the + and - buttons in the top left corner of the map to zoom in and out.
• Use the arrows to move about the area.

Contact:
Whitby Museum
Pannett Park
Whitby
YO21 1RE
Tel: 01947 602908

Visit the very informative official Museum website for lots more information...

Open

• Tues-Sun: 9.30am-4.30pm
• (Last entry 4pm)
• Closed Mondays (Except Bank Holidays and School Holidays)
• Closed between Christmas and New Year

• Library and Archives in Museum
• Lectures and other events are put on
• Small museum shop
• Photography is not allowed in the Museum

Have you been to Whitby Museum? What did you think? Where do you like to go for a day out? Tell us, here...

Why do you like Whitby? Share your Whitby stories, here...

Read about why Helen likes Whitby Museum

Read what other travellers have to say about the Museum at TripAdvisor

You might also like the Captain Cook Museum in Whitby

And the Captain Cook and Staithes Heritage Centre in nearby Staithes.

Further afield:

Rotunda Museum and Scarborough Art Gallery

The Yorkshire Museum (York)

York Castle Museum

Merchant Adventurers' Hall (York)

Read more about the history of Whitby

You can also visit Scarborough's Rotunda Museum and Scarborough Art Gallery

More about British History in Yorkshire

More about the Yorkshire coast fossil coast

More ideas for days out and things to do

More Whitby Tourist Information

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