Sandsend Ness

Sandsend Ness is an old alum quarrying site close to Whitby in North Yorkshire, England.

[2] This geological configuration, along with its proximity to the port of Whitby, offered Sandsend near-ideal conditions for the rapidly expanding alum industry from the early 17th century onwards.

This material was of great importance through to the late 19th century in leather tanning and in the wool dying industry.

[7] In fact, the ammonite Hildoceras is named after an early Christian saint, the Abbess of Whitby St. Hild or Hilda (614–680).

It was not unknown for local "artisans" to carve snakes' heads onto ammonites, and sell these "relics" as proof of the miracle.