Museum of Whitby Jet
The museum is run by W. Hamond of The Original Whitby Jet Shop located at the bottom of the 199 steps. The shop had held the largest collection of historical Whitby Jet jewellery in the world, it was however stored in drawers and cupboards unseen by the public. The museum was created to fully display the collection, and for the first time, to tell the history of Whitby’s Jet industry.
The room where the museum is now was for many years used as a storeroom. Before the renovations took place there were large, trailing weeds growing through the walls from the outside and a serious problem with damp.
The cabinets used to house the jet collection are all antiques of a similar era to the building. The large fitted cabinets in the first half of the museum were adapted from old church pews which fit very well with the building's existing interior and help to maintain its character and originality.
A school party at the museum