Whitby Museum

Whitby Museum sits in Pannett Park, a short walk uphill from the harbour, and is run by the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, which was founded in 1823. The current museum building opened in 1931 and its galleries have a distinctly Victorian, cabinet-of-curiosities feel: dense displays, handwritten labels and cases packed with objects gathered by generations of local collectors.

The collections reflect the town's history and geology. There's a nationally important set of Jurassic fossils from the Yorkshire coast, including large marine reptiles found in the cliffs nearby. Other highlights include Captain Cook memorabilia (Cook served his apprenticeship in Whitby), whaling artefacts from the town's 18th and 19th-century Arctic fleet, a Tempest Prognosticator (a Victorian weather-forecasting device that used leeches), and a large collection of Whitby jet jewellery, the polished black gemstone for which the town is famous.

The museum also houses a library and archive used by researchers of local history and natural history. Allow around an hour and a half to work through the galleries properly.