The Sea Cut (Scalby Beck) is a small river that enters the North Sea at Scalby Mills, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The beck is fed from local streams in Scalby, Newby and Burniston and other watercourses draining off the nearby hills. It is also a bypass channel for the upper reaches of the River Derwent when it is under flood conditions.
History
The Sea Cut is fed by small streams and becks mainly draining water away from the hills on the western side of Scalby and Newby. In response to major flooding on the River Derwent in 1799, a canalised beck was cut between Everley and Newby Bridge (the present day A171 road bridge that spans the beck between Newby and Scalby). The Sea Cut was primarily to stop flooding in West and East Ayton further downstream. This means that water flowing in the River Derwent takes before reaching the sea via the Humber Estuary as opposed to the relatively short distance via the Sea Cut. This scheme, along with others in the area (straightening of the Derwent and Hertford rivers and land drainage) was promoted by Sir George Cayley and William Chapman with Robert Wilson employed as engineer for the Sea Cut navigation.
During the Ice Age, the water flowed to the sea along the course of the Sea Cut before glacial mud build up caused what is now the Derwent river to change course and lead to it flowing westwards away from the North Sea.
The Sea Cut (or New Cut) was opened on 3 September 1804 and extended to with a width of and a drop of . Ten weirs were built along its length to control the energy of the floodwaters with the weir head at Everley controlling the flow of the Sea Cut by use of a sluice gate allowing floodwater over the weir when the Derwent is in spate, but maintaining the flow of water in the Derwent when dryer conditions prevail. The sluice gate at Everely is designed specifically to not allow floodwater to enter the Derwent. Instead the majority of the floodwater is diverted down the Sea Cut.
Local businessmen, entrepreneurs and farmers all gathered together to make the scheme viable as it would also provide additional land for agriculture. A new bridge was built for Mowthorp Road as part of the scheme (which is now Grade II listed) with the other crossing points in Scalby having had many bridges throughout human history, although they were all replaced in the latter part of the 19th or the early part of the 20th century (Newby Bridge was washed away in a flood in August 1890. Whitby Road Bridge (the A165 road) was rebuilt in 1906).
The beck's outfall into the North Sea was further south than where it is now. Adjacent to the Sea Life Centre at Scarborough was a coastal island known as Monkey Island. This was large enough to play cricket and football on top of it and the Sea Cut used to run between the coast and Monkey Island and enter the sea further south on the coast towards Peasholm. Monkey Island was lost to coastal erosion and the remains were finally removed in 1961 after its location became part of what is now the Scarborough Sea Life Centre.
Route
The watercourse starts in the parish of Suffield-cum-Everley near to Mowthorpe Farm. This is where the River Derwent turns south away from the coast. The Sea Cut runs for due eastwards flowing over three weirs on the way in a fairly straight sided channel as this is the cut section. It flows under Mowthorp Road (C71) and then flows north eastwards before reaching the Hackness Road (C251). This is where the canalised section ends and the last is known as Scalby Beck. Traditionally, where Church Beck joins the main watercourse, it was known as Scalby Beck.
The beck flows on underneath the A171 road at Newby Bridge; hereafter it is more of a meander as this is the natural course of water before the new cut further upstream was added. The beck then flows under the viaduct of the former Scarborough to Whitby Railway and the A165 road before flowing through a deep channel in heathland at Scalby Ness then flowing out into the North Sea by Scalby Mills and Scarborough Sea Life Centre. The last section had the watermills and still has the seven out of ten on the entire watercourse.
Control of floodwaters and flood prevention is the responsibility of the Environment Agency as the Sea Cut is designated as a main river alongside the Derwent, the Hertford and the Esk rivers. The becks that flow into the Sea Cut and Scalby Beck are maintained by Scarborough Borough Council.