Whitby Abbey

The skeletal arches of Whitby Abbey are the defining image of this coast. A monastery was founded here in 657 by St Hild, and the Synod of Whitby in 664 decided how the English church would calculate Easter. The present ruins are the 13th-century Benedictine church.

English Heritage runs the site with a visitor centre in the neighbouring Cholmley House. Come up the 199 steps from the town, or drive to the car park at the top. The abbey is floodlit in the evenings during Goth Weekend and in the run-up to Halloween.