Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey tickets: which one to buy

Whitby Abbey stands on the East Cliff above the harbour town of Whitby, on the North Yorkshire coast of England, and it is managed by English Heritage, which charges a ticket, free for members. The Gothic ruins, silhouetted against the sky above the sea, are one of the most dramatic sights on the English coast, and they inspired Bram Stoker, who stayed in Whitby, to set part of his novel Dracula here. From the old town, visitors climb the famous 199 steps to St Mary's Church and the abbey, or drive round to the car park on the clifftop.

The visitor centre, in Cholmley House, a seventeenth-century mansion beside the ruins, displays finds from the abbey and explains its history. Whitby is about an hour and a half from York by car, and it is reached by train from Middlesbrough and by the heritage North Yorkshire Moors Railway from Pickering in summer. Visitors combine the abbey with Whitby's harbour, the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, the fish and chip shops and the North York Moors National Park. The clifftop is exposed to wind, so bring warm clothes even in summer.

Visiting Whitby Abbey: what to see

The first monastery was founded in 657 by King Oswiu of Northumbria, and its first abbess was Hilda, a princess who became one of the most influential women of Anglo-Saxon England; the monastery was a double house for monks and nuns. In 664 it hosted the Synod of Whitby, which decided that the Northumbrian Church would follow the Roman rather than the Irish way of calculating Easter, a turning point in English church history. Caedmon, a cowherd at the abbey, is remembered as the first English poet known by name. The Anglo-Saxon monastery was abandoned after Viking raids, and it was refounded as a Benedictine abbey after the Norman Conquest.

The ruins visible today belong to the church built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in the Gothic style, with tall lancet windows in the east end and parts of the north transept still standing. The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539, and its buildings fell into ruin, although the Cholmley family built their house from its stones. In 1914 German warships shelled Whitby, and the west front of the ruins was damaged. The Abbey Plain, beside the ruins, has a stone cross, and the nearby St Mary's Church, with its box pews and graveyard, is part of the classic view.

Whitby Abbey opening hours and the best time to go

The abbey is open daily in summer and on selected days in winter, and it is best to check English Heritage's timetable before travelling. Summer and school holidays are the busiest times. The Whitby Goth Weekend, held in spring and autumn, brings crowds in Victorian and gothic costumes, and Halloween is popular. The ruins are especially atmospheric at sunset, and the view from the harbour of the abbey at dusk is striking. Winters are cold and windy. Allow about an hour and a half for the abbey and visitor centre.