The Whitby Abbey Ruins

The Ruins of Whitby Abbey from Whitby.Co.UK

While I was surfing the net, I noticed a photo of what seemed like an old ruins of a castle or an age old, basilica or monastery perhaps. It intrigued me so much and I noticed the name Whitby Abbey Pond at the caption. It was something I thought, I would like to see in person.

So, I tried googling for Whitby Abbey.

Well, I found out that Whitby is a town in Yorkshire, Northern England UK. It is where Whitby Abbey had stood. It was one of the twelve monasteries that the king of Northumbria, the medieval kingdom of the Angles during the post Roman period (presently northern England to southeast Scotland), had built in 656 AD after defeating the pagan king of Mercia, (one of the kingdoms of the Anglo Saxon Heptarchy). He even consecrated his daughter to serve God and became an abbess.

The first abbess of Whitby Abbey, Hilda, became a saint. Whitby became a center for Anglo-Saxon literature, a royal nunnery and burial place for the royal family. One important historical stamp of Northumbria was the Synod of Whitby in 664, which established the date of easter in the Catholic faith.

In 867, the Vikings destroyed the monastery. It was rebuilt by William de Percy in 1078 in honor of St Hilda. It was then called St Hilda Abbey but in 1540, Henry VIII destroyed it again and left it in ruins until today.

As a trivia, did you know that Bram Stoker wrote his famous book while at the churchyard of Mt. Mary’s parish church, which is on Whitby’s east cliff? The famous book- Dracula. I wonder how such a place with a holy background had born a vampire story; seems absurd. Haha... 

Whitby Abbey had a colorful story and had etched its place in the annals of English history. How I wish I can visit it in the future.

Image and Info Sources:

Whitby Tourist Accommodation and Travel Information, Whitby.Co.UK, No Update data; Available at: http://www.whitby.co.uk/ Accessed October 16, 2010.

Wikipedia contributors. Whitby. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. October 10, 2010, 00:49 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whitby&oldid=389799040 Accessed October 16, 2010.

Wikipedia contributors. Northumbria. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 11, 2010, 13:21 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northumbria&oldid=384195963 Accessed October 16, 2010.