Saving Constable Moby: Restoring our Historic Whale Skeleton

The Story of Constable Moby

In 1825, a 58½-foot sperm whale beached itself at Tunstall, East Yorkshire. Claimed by Sir Thomas Aston Clifford Constable, the whale’s skeleton was transported to Burton Constable Hall, where it was mounted on an iron framework in the parkland by 1836.

The whale quickly became a popular attraction for both scientists and visitors. The mounted skeleton was later studied by Thomas Beale (1807–1849), whose 1839 account eventually caught the attention of Herman Melville. Melville drew inspiration from Beale’s description when he wrote his acclaimed novel Moby-Dick in 1851:

...at a place in Yorkshire, England, Burton Constable by name, a certain Sir Clifford Constable has in his possession the skeleton of a Sperm Whale...Sir Clifford’s whale has been articulated throughout; so that like a great chest of drawers, you can open and shut him, in all his long cavities - spread out his ribs like a gigantic fan - and swing all day upon his lower jaw. Locks are to be put upon some of his trap doors and shutters; and a footman will show round future visitors with a bunch of keys at his side. Sir Clifford thinks of charging two pence for a peep at the whispering gallery in the spinal column; threepence to hear the echo in the hollow of his cerebellum; and sixpence for the unrivalled view from his forehead.

Over time, exposure and age led to deterioration. In 1992, the Burton Constable Foundation rescued the skeleton and moved it into the Stables for protection. Today, it remains a treasured historic artifact, but it requires careful restoration to secure its future.