Port Mulgrave

Port Mulgrave is a derelict former ironstone-exporting port on the North Yorkshire coast midway between Staithes and Runswick Bay in the civil parish of Hinderwell. Rows of domestic properties and individual houses exist on the top of the cliff. The area is popular with tourists and holiday makers to the North Yorkshire coast and is a popular place for fossil collectors with ammonite, dinosaur and reptile fossils found on the foreshore and in the cliffs. The area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of this. The whole area is subject to coastal erosion, landslides and path closures.

Port Mulgrave is a derelict harbour with the most significant remains on the eastern side. The western walls of the harbour were deliberately removed by military engineers during the Second World War, forming a shale beach from the debris of landslides from the western cliff that extends above high-water level. To the rear of the harbour is a high coastal slope formed of different levels of terraces, possibly suggesting further slumping or deeper-seated failure of the slope. There are a number of properties nearby along with a local road, but the main village is situated well inland. 

The whole area is within the North York Moors National Park and Heritage Coast. 

Value to the nation:

• Walking: the Cleveland Way National Trail runs along the cliff top, two miles north-west to Staithes and four miles south-east to Sandsend. 
• Tourist area: part of the North York Moors National Park
• Historical: evidence of ironstone workings and the remnants of a later nineteenth-century harbour used to export ironstone from an inland mine. A row of miner’s cottages and the original mine owner’s house are still present

The village of Port Mulgrave lies nine miles north-west of Whitby on the Yorkshire coast.

The worst-case erosion susceptibility classification of the cliff or backshore deposits. Click on a cell in the map for more information.

The mean erosion susceptibility classification of the cliff or backshore deposits. Click on a cell in the map for more information.

The base lithology (lith1) erosion susceptibility classification of the cliff. This is the first lithology above the high-water line that will be predominantly subjected to wave processes.

Maximum sea-level inundation extents as defined by  UK Climate Projections  — UKCP18 sea-level rise climate scenarios for future sea-level rise.

The potential subsidence for an area considering the combined effects of the geological factors at that location. Provided as % and mm/yr.

A range of regional statistics have been generated from the baseline datasets to provide an authority-level overview of coastal properties, cliff erosion and flood susceptibility. These are all provided under the  Open Government Licence .

• Coastline cliff erosion: the erosion susceptibility classification based on the geological properties showing the worst and mean scenarios for the coastline
• Multi-formations: length of coastline that is made up of cliffs with multiple different geology layers
• Inundation: maximum sea-level inundation extents as defined by  UK Climate Projections  — UKCP18 sea level rise climate scenarios for future sea level rise

These are available in the  BGS Onshore GeoIndex .

A range of regional statistics have been generated from the baseline datasets to provide a Shoreline Management Plan-level overview of coastal properties, cliff erosion and flood susceptibility. These are all provided under the  Open Government Licence .

• Coastline cliff erosion: the erosion susceptibility classification based on the geological properties showing the worst and mean scenarios for the coastline
• Multi formations: length of coastline that is made up of cliffs with multiple different geology layers
• Inundation: maximum sea-level inundation extents as defined by  UK Climate Projections  — UKCP18 sea-level rise climate scenarios for future sea-level rise

These are available in the  BGS Onshore GeoIndex .