THE home of a well-known Scarborough literary family is to become the focal point of a major cultural quarter planned for the town.

Members of Scarborough Borough Council's cabinet have agreed to support an £8.7m scheme which will upgrade Wood End, the former home of the Sitwell family and now a natural history museum, and extend it to replace the town's adjoining Art Gallery in The Crescent.

In addition, the Rotunda Museum will be redeveloped as a world centre for geology because of its close associations with William Smith, recognised as the father of geology.

Peter Dahl, the council's tourism and leisure director, said a study had been carried out by consultancy firm Egeria into the future of Wood End, the Rotunda and the art gallery, with the aim of creating a cultural quarter in The Crescent, and enhancing Scarborough's wealth of artefacts and paintings.

He said several options had been considered, including developing all three buildings and retaining Londesborough Lodge, the present home of the tourism department, as a centre for storage and offices.

Another option was to create a building to replace both the gallery and Wood End.