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| View of the Abbey - Whitby You have chosen to view the QTVR panoramas, you may need to install QUICKTIME on your computer. |
Set high on a North Yorkshire clifftop, its remains overlook a picturesque town and harbour with associations ranging from Victorian jewellery and whaling to Count Dracula. The abbey is today a gaunt and moving ruin and those who choose to approach it up the 199 steps from Whitby town also know the meaning of dedication. St Hilda brought monks and nuns, including the poet Caedmon, to found a religious house on the coastal headland in 657. Because of her reputation, the Synod of 664 was held there and the two branches of early English Christianity, the Celtic and Roman churches, buried many differences in practice and doctrine. The matter that had most divided them was the date of Easter, and the Synod decided in favour of the Roman tradition. When the Vikings invaded Northumbria in 867, the abbey was destroyed and its wealth pillaged. A Norman invader, Reinfrid, revived Whitby Abbey in the late 1070s; he also resettled Jarrow, home of Bede, whose writings had kept alive the memory of the early holy places, and refounded Whitby. The Norman church proved inadequate under the pressure of pilgrims, and in the 1220s rebuilding commenced. Since its dissolution in 1538, Whitby`s dramatic location has attracted 18th-century painters and engravers. They helped begin the appreciation of the grandeur of these ruins, which has led to their continued preservation. Whitby Abbey, probably the towns most visited attraction, due to its historical significance and its heritage. Opening times (2001): 11 April-30 Sep: 10am-6pm daily. 1-31 Oct: 10am-5pm daily. 1 Nov-31 March 2002: 10am-4pm daily. Closed 24-26 Dec and 1 Jan 2002. Entry costs Entry £1.80/£1.40/90p. Tel 01947 603568 VR Photography: Tony Quinn, John Pybus © Red Door VR Limited. |
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