Whitby Abbey
- Photograph,Mixed Media
- 15 by 10 inches
- unframed
- £30.00
- Whitby Abbey is a ruined Benedictine abbey sited on Whitby's East Cliff in North Yorkshire on the north-east coast of England. The stark and magnificent ruins of the Abbey are much more than a spectacular clifftop landmark.
It was founded in 657 AD by the Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria, Oswy. In 664, the abbey was the site of the Synod of Whitby, at which King Oswiu ruled that the Northumbrian Church would adopt the Roman calculation of Easter and monastic tonsure. In 867, the abbey fell to Viking attack, and was abandoned. The second monastery lasted until it was destroyed by Henry VIII in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The abbey buildings fell into ruins, and were mined for stone, but remained a prominent landmark for sailors and helped inspire Bram Stoker's Dracula. The ruins are now owned and maintained by English Heritage.