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Gothic romanticism - Romantisme gothique

Whitby Abbey - Yorkshire

This spectacular headland was first settled as a monastery in AD657 by King Oswy of Northumbria. It became one of the most important religious centres in the Anglo-Saxon world under the formidable Abbess Hild. She ruled over both men and women in a double monastery called Streaneshalch.

Centuries of weather and war have taken their toll - parts of the abbey church have collapsed during storms, and its west front was hit by German naval shelling in 1914.

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Uploaded on October 13, 2018
Taken on August 22, 2018