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Coordinates: 54°12′36″N 0°17′21″W / 54.2101°N 0.2893°W / 54.2101; -0.2893

Filey
240px Filey Beach at low water
100px Arms of Filey Town Council
Filey  Filey shown within North Yorkshire
Population	6,819 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid reference	TA115807
District	Scarborough
Shire county	North Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	FILEY
Postcode district	YO14
Dialling code	01723
Police	North Yorkshire
Fire	North Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Thirsk and Malton
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Filey is a small town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the borough of Scarborough and is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on the North Sea coast. Although it started out as a fishing village, it has a large beach and is a popular tourist resort. Until 1974 it was an urban district in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

According to the 2001 UK census, Filey parish had a population of 6,819.^[1]

Geography[link]

Filey is at the eastern end of the Cleveland Way a long-distance footpath; this starts at Helmsley and skirts the North York Moors. It was the second National Trail to be opened (1969). It is also the northern end of the Yorkshire Wolds Way National Trail which starts at Hessle and crosses the Yorkshire Wolds. Filey is the finishing point for Great Yorkshire Bike Ride. The 70-mile (110 km) ride begins at Wetherby Racecourse.

Filey has a railway station on the Yorkshire Coast Line. Previously Filey also had a second station Filey Holiday Camp railway station to the south of the town serving the former Butlins holiday camp. This camp has now been re-developed into a 600-home holiday housing development, The Bay Filey.^[2] It is one of the largest coastal developments of this kind in the UK and the first homes began to be handed over to buyers in 2007.^[3]

• Filey church.jpg

  St Oswald's Parish Church

• 

  Filey Beach

In July 2007 Filey was hit by flash floods which caused major problems in the town, with various areas suffering damage.^[4][5]

History[link]

The oldest building in Filey is the 12th century parish church of St Oswald, on Church Hill in the north of the town.^{[citation needed]} Nicholas Pevsner said 'This is easily the finest church in the NE corner of the East Riding' Buildings of England.^[6]

Filey remained a small village until the 18th century when visitors from Scarborough arrived seeking the peace and quiet that Filey offered. Then in 1835 a Birmingham solicitor called John Wilkes Unett bought 7 acres (28,000 m²) of land and built the Crescent, later known as the Royal Crescent. It was opened in the 1850s and for 100 years it was the most fashionable address in the North of England.

English composer Frederick Delius stayed as a boy on the Crescent with his family at Miss Hurd's boarding house (number 24) in 1876 and 1877 and then also at Mrs. Colley's (number 24) in 1897.

In 1931 the spire of a church was damaged by the Dogger Bank earthquake.

For more than 40 years Butlin's Holiday Camp was a major factor in Filey's economy. Building work began in 1939 and continued through the war during which it became an air force station known as R.A.F. Hunmanby Moor. In 1945 it became a popular holiday resort complete with its own railway station and by the late 1950s it could cater for 10,000 holiday makers. It closed in 1984, causing a decrease in the holiday makers visiting Filey.^[7]

Coast and Country Housing Limited[link]

Coast & Country Housing Limited have plans to build 300 houses in Filey. Scarborough council has approved plans for the £45m housing project off Muston Road by Coast & Country. Independent councillor Sam Cross, who represents Filey on the borough council, said: "The infrastructure of the town can't cope with it."^[8] Coast and Country have replied to the concerns by stating that the houses are being built to meet a pent-up latent demand for affordable housing and other housing within the town^[9].

Governance[link]

Filey was in the Ryedale constituency until the 2010 general election when it became part of the newly formed Thirsk and Malton constituency.

Notable people[link]

• Leo Blair, the father of Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was born in Filey.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Filey

• Filey Town Council
• Tide times at Filey Bay from the BBC