Whitby Abbey Church from the south (3 x PiPs)

Perhaps better enlarged

The huge, gaunt shell of Whitby’s abbey church is one of Yorkshire’s most memorable landmarks, visible from miles away from land or sea. Yet the monastery only represents a part of the history of the headland upon which it stands. People have lived here since at least Roman times, when there was probably a signal station on the cliff edge. In the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries there was a thriving Anglican community here, with a famous minster (or monastery) of monks and nuns, founded by St. Hild, at its heart. The minster and settlement had disappeared by the end of the ninth century, presumably following Viking raids along the coast. The name ‘Whitby’ is Danish: the present town, was almost certainly founded by Danish settlers some time in the 10th century.

The great Benedictine monastery dominated the headland and the town below from its foundation in the late 11th century until its suppression in 1539.

Its site and the surrounding estates were then bought by the Chomleys, a newly rich landowning family. They demolished the monastic buildings but preserved the shell of the church, and adapted the former abbot’s lodgings as a residence, adding a grand new wing to it in the 1670’s.

By the later 18th century the Chomleys moved away, but by then the shell of the abbey had become a picturesque ruin and a historic monument. In the 20th century the abbey was placed in the care of the Ministry of Works, and in 1984 the ruins were transferred to English Heritage.