WHITBY
=How to get there.=—Train from King's Cross. Great Northern Rly.
=Nearest Station.=—Whitby.
=Distance from London.=—244-3/4 miles.
=Average Time.=—Varies between 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—Single 34s. 6d. … 20s. 4d.
Return 69s. 0d. … 40s. 8d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=—"Royal Hotel," "Crown Hotel,"
"Métropole Hotel," etc.
Whitby is renowned for its ancient abbey and its beautiful situation on the high and rocky coast of Yorkshire, just where the river Esk finds a way to the sea. The Esk cuts the town into two portions. East Cliff is on the one side, with its hoary abbey and quaint parish church on its summit, towering over the old fishing hamlet which clusters so picturesquely at its base. West Cliff is on the other side, a modern, fashionable seaside resort. Close by are the heather-clad moors with their keen, invigorating air.
From the bottom of East Cliff one ascends by 199 steps to the abbey, which was founded in (circa) 658. Its first abbess was the saintly Lady Hilda. During her rule, the poor cowherd, Caedmon, sleeping among the cattle, being ashamed that he could not take harp and sing among the rest, had his wonderful dream. An angel appeared to him and told him to sing the Beginning of the Creation. Immediately the cowherd went to the Abbess Hilda and sang his song. He became our first English poet.
In 870 the abbey and town were destroyed by the Danes. The ecclesiastical buildings were deserted for two hundred years, but the town was rebuilt and prospered. The foundations of the present buildings were laid in 1220, and the abbey flourished till the Dissolution, when it was despoiled. Even in its ruinous condition it is a marvellous specimen of Gothic architecture. The choir, with its north aisle and transept, parts of the north aisle, and the west front are standing.
The Parish Church of St. Mary is worth a visit because of its extreme age (it dates from Norman times) and its quaint ugliness. Whitby built the ship in which Captain Cook sailed round the world. The house where he served his apprenticeship to a shipbuilder is in Grape Lane. The jet works are only carried on to a limited extent. In the Scaur, below East Cliff, ammonites are to be found.
A charge of threepence is made for admission to the abbey.
[Illustration: Photochrom Co., Ltd.
WHITBY.
The old town from across the harbour.]