Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey

One of the most famous landmarks in Whitby are the 199 steps that lead up from the Harbour area to St Mary’s church, also know as the ‘Church Steps’. The first record of the steps was in 1340, though it is believed the steps were made a long time before this, as some historians believe that St Hilda would use the steps to test the faith of her followers (climbing up the steps would prove your faith, a simple task these days). The steps were originally made of wood and stood for hundreds of years that way until 1774 when the steps were replaced with stone. There has been many years of dispute as to how many steps there are, some believe there are 198, and others believe 200 (depending on how you count the steps). Before the 19th century, when St Mary’s was still open for burials, many people preferred to be carried up the steps, rather than giving their relatives a more easy journey and having their bodies carried in a horse and carriage along a lane leading to the church. It must have been extremely tiring carrying a body up 199 steps, so wooden planks were built in place to place the coffin on and give the pall-bearers a rest (they are now used as benches for the living to rest on).

The Church of Saint Mary is an Anglican parish church serving the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire England. It was founded around 1110, although its interior dates chiefly from the late 18th century. The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 23 February 1954. It is situated on the town's east cliff, overlooking the mouth of the River Esk overlooking the town, close to the ruins of Whitby Abbey (see below). Church Steps, a flight of 199 steps lead up the hill to the church from the streets below. The church graveyard is used as a setting in Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula. Church of St. Mary and Whitby Abbey Ruin A Norman church was built on the site around 1110 and added to and altered over the centuries. The tower and transepts are from the 12th and 13th centuries. The tower is square and crenellated, as are the walls. One of the oldest parts of the church is the quire which has three round-headed windows at its east end. Its side walls originally had three bays with similar windows but have been altered. It has three aumbries, one with a small piscina. The nave has five bays and is contemporary with the quire, its south wall is much altered but three external buttresses remain. When the church was enlarged in 1818 most of the north wall was removed and replaced by columns to accommodate an aisle, four large square-headed windows were inserted on the south side, the south porch was built in 1823 and a north porch built in the new annexe. The ceilings over the nave are boarded with several skylights. The transept was built in the 13th century and has three altered lancet windows in its northern arm while its southern arm is considerably changed and its windows all replaced. The three-stage west tower has a squat appearance, its corners supported by flat buttresses and its embattled parapet is a 16th-century addition. Of its ring of eight bells, six are inscribed, "Whitby 1762 Lester and Pack of London fecit" and two were added in 1897.

HFF 12/7/2019 (1 xPiP) Taken from the clifftop path (part of the *Cleaveland Way) The *Cleveland Way is a National Trail in ancient Cleveland in northern England. It runs 110 miles (177 km) between Helmsley and the Brigg at Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park. The trail can be walked in either direction linking the trailheads of Helmsley and Filey in a horseshoe configuration. The trail is waymarked along its length using the standard National Trail acorn symbol. The trail falls into two roughly equal sections. The inland section leads west from Helmsley, then north, then east around the west of the North York Moors National Park. It then leaves the National Park near Guisborough to meet the coast at Saltburn. It re-enters the National Park just north of Staithes; the coastal section follows the coast from Saltburn to Whitby, then leaves the National Park for the final time at Cloughton Wyke to reach Scarborough and Filey.

(1 x PiP - showing the interior from the western (Nave) end of the building) The ruins of Whitby Abbey that can be seen today date from the 13th century onwards. The first Benidictine church on the headland was a smaller, but still impressive, stone building in the Romanesque style, probably begun in abut 1109. The Romanesque church stood until the 13th century, when abbots, priors and bishops all over England were launching ambitious projects to rebuild what, in most cases, were already large and impressive churches. It seems likely that a spirit of competition mingled with a wish to demonstrate their devotion to God. Dedicated to St. Peter and St. Hild, Whitby Abbey Church is more than 90 metres long - the size of a small cathedral (Ripon Cathedral is about the same length). The abbey church was not built to serve the local community.

Bram Stoker arrived in Whitby in July 1890, having been recommended to visit the Yorkshire coastal town by the actor Henry Irving. He spent a week exploring Whitby alone before being joined by his wife and baby son for a family holiday. Stoker quickly became enchanted by the winding cobbled streets, dramatic cliffs and red rooftops. From the Royal Crescent where he was staying, to the dramatic Abbey headland, Stoker gathered ideas and inspiration everywhere he went. In fact, the name of Dracula’s first victim, Swales, is taken from one of the weather-beaten gravestones which cluster around St Mary’s Church. Stoker created the famous vampire based on a 15th-century prince Vlad Tepes, known as Dracula the ‘son of the dragon’ as it was said he impaled his enemies on wooden stakes. Bram Stoker’s Dracula arrives on the shores of Whitby aboard a shipwrecked boat, all the sailors are found dead including the captain who has been tied to the helm. The only living creature aboard is a fierce black dog which bounds up the 199 steps leading to the Abbey: Dracula ready to inflict terror on the unexpecting town. This too is based on real life events; 5 years earlier a Russian boat had run aground on Tate Hill Sands, rearranging the name, Stoker created Demeter from Varna, the novel’s doomed vessel.

Yorkshire River Derwent The Yorkshire Derwent rises at Lilla Rigg on Fylingdales Moor (North York Moors) the only river of the eastern moors, running south east across the moors towards the coast. The river changes in character more than most moorland rivers. The upper reaches flow between the northern end of Langdale Forest and the open moors. After four miles the river turns south and runs through Langdale (a valley), with the narrow ridge of Langdale Rigg to the west and the steep slopes of Broxa Forest to the east. After emerging from Langdale the Derwent meanders its way through an area of more open farmland, bounded by steep sided but more distant hills. Originally this was the last stretch of the river, and it ran into the sea just to the north of Scarborough. This all changed during the last ice age, towards the end of which the glaciers retreated at different speeds, with the thinner glaciers over the Moors melting more quickly than those over the modern North Sea. As a result the Derwent was unable to flow into the sea and a large lake built up to the north of the Tabular Hills. Eventually this lake overflowed the hills penning it in. The resulting flood carved out Forge Valley. The Derwent still flows down the Forge Valley, emerging form the moors between West and East Ayton. At this point the river is only four miles from the coast, but it turns its back to the sea and flows west across the Vale of Pickering. The total length of the Derwent is approximately 71 miles (113km). It joins the River Ouse near Barmby on Marsh in East Yorkshire. The name was recorded by Bede in the 8th century as Deruuentionis fluvii , from the Celtic “river where oak trees grow abundantly".