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Whitby Abbey
The ruins of Whitby Abbey are among the most celebrated sights of North Yorkshire. The first monastery here, founded in about 657.
Set high on the clifftops overlooking the sea, the ruins of Whitby Abbey tell only part of the site’s incredible story. Communities have lived on this headland for over 3,000 years and it has long been an important holy place and seat of power. Buried beneath the soaring arches we see today are the remains of an earlier Anglo-Saxon monastery, whose tales of saints, poets and miracles still survive.
From its early, pivotal role in the history of Christianity in England to the arrival of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Whitby is a place where history and legend meet. Explore this page to discover the stories from the headland’s past.
In AD 657 Abbess Hild founded a monastery for men and women at Whitby, on land given by King Oswiu. It was Whitby’s first monastic site and became one of the most important religious centres in the Anglo-Saxon world.
In 664 Whitby hosted a landmark meeting, known as a synod, to decide the date of Easter. By opting to follow the Roman Christian tradition rather than the Celtic one, it was crucial in determining the direction of the English church.
The monastery was abandoned following Danish raids in the 9th century but the Benedictine monk Reinfrid established a new community on the site in 1078.
The Benedictine monastery was suppressed by Henry VIII in 1539 and its ruins are the ones we see on Whitby headland today. The vast shell of the abbey church is a magnificent example of English Gothic architecture.
Whitby Abbey has inspired many artists and writers, including Cædmon, the first named poet in the English language, and Bram Stoker, who set part of Dracula here.
Whitby Abbey
The ruins of Whitby Abbey are among the most celebrated sights of North Yorkshire. The first monastery here, founded in about 657.
Set high on the clifftops overlooking the sea, the ruins of Whitby Abbey tell only part of the site’s incredible story. Communities have lived on this headland for over 3,000 years and it has long been an important holy place and seat of power. Buried beneath the soaring arches we see today are the remains of an earlier Anglo-Saxon monastery, whose tales of saints, poets and miracles still survive.
From its early, pivotal role in the history of Christianity in England to the arrival of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Whitby is a place where history and legend meet. Explore this page to discover the stories from the headland’s past.
In AD 657 Abbess Hild founded a monastery for men and women at Whitby, on land given by King Oswiu. It was Whitby’s first monastic site and became one of the most important religious centres in the Anglo-Saxon world.
In 664 Whitby hosted a landmark meeting, known as a synod, to decide the date of Easter. By opting to follow the Roman Christian tradition rather than the Celtic one, it was crucial in determining the direction of the English church.
The monastery was abandoned following Danish raids in the 9th century but the Benedictine monk Reinfrid established a new community on the site in 1078.
The Benedictine monastery was suppressed by Henry VIII in 1539 and its ruins are the ones we see on Whitby headland today. The vast shell of the abbey church is a magnificent example of English Gothic architecture.
Whitby Abbey has inspired many artists and writers, including Cædmon, the first named poet in the English language, and Bram Stoker, who set part of Dracula here.