Filey's name suggests an Anglican origin, this means that there has been a community there for about 12 Centuries.
 
Filey's name means Five Leys meaning a clearing of forest or meadow.
 
The oldest building in the town is the Filey Museum on Queen Street built in 1696. 
 
For most of its history, Filey was a fishing and farming village with a few hundred inhabitants living in the street now called Queen Street.
 
Ecclesiastical records show that as early as the 12th Century Filey men were fishing as far away as Whitby and Grimsby. A dispute about tithes eventually went to the Pope to be settled.
 
Filey remained a small village until the 18th Century when visitors from Scarborough came to Filey for peace and quiet, not found in Scarborough. The visitors would stay in local people's houses until the early 19th Century when Foords Hotel was opened. It was the first house to be built with visitors in mind.
 
In 1835 a Birmingham solicitor called John Wilkes Unett bought 7 acres of land and built the Crescent, later known as the Royal Crescent. It was opened in the 1850's and for 100 years it was the most fashionable address in the North of England.
 
Railways reach Filey in 1846-1847.
 
Seamer to Filey line opened in 1846.
 
Filey to Bridlington line opened in 1847 creating a route to Hull.

 

In the late 4th Century the Romans built a signal station on Carr Naze where the soldiers watched for Saxon raiders. The station was excavated in1857 when base stones were found. Later on in 1993 The York Archaeological Trust as well as English Heritage carried out some extensive excavations and you can find a full report in the local library.
 
English composer Fredrick Delius stayed as a boy on the Crescent with his family at Miss Hurd's boarding house no 24 in 1876 plus 1877 and at Mrs. Colley,s no 24 in 1897.
 
1910-1912 the Filey flying school was established on the cliffs between Primrose Valley and Hunmanby Gap.
 
In Victorian and Edwardian eras small groups of musicians played in the gardens during the summer season. The tradition continued into the 1950's and has lately been revived by Filey Town Council who have a brass and silver bands from around the area to play on Sunday afternoons during the summer months. 
 
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 military base 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 1950's it could cater for 10,000 holiday makers. Unfortunately it was to close in 1984, causing a decrease in the holiday makers visiting Filey.