Return to HomeThis area was given by King Oswy to be a monastery in thanksgiving for a victory. The first leader was a princess called Hild.This was a mixed monastery but with the leadership established as feminine. As it was started by Celtic monks, it was not a single large building but many smaller buildings which served as cells for one or two monastics or other purposes such as a scriptorum,pilgrims hostel etc.
This was the scene of the famous Synod of Whitby where Colman, the local bishop disputed the timing of the date of Easter with a young monk called Wilfred who had travelled abroad. Colman argued that he held a long tradition which had been practiced by many saintly men in the past. Wilfred called him a heretic who rejected the tradition of the church coming from the apostle Peter.This failed to convince Colman who left with many of his monks to found a monastery on an island off the west coast of Ireland. In actual fact Wilfred was wrong because the dating held by most of the church was the result of study by learned scholars in Alexandria which had been accepted by the Church at a time when the Irish Church was separated from the Christian world by barbarian invasions. Wilfred later became a problem for the Church in England and was censured by it and went to Rome to contest his native church. In the end both men were declared saints.When the Vikings eventually pillaged the monastery it still had the Celtic format as the Normans described the site as forty roofless chapels.
St Mary's Church This church was built in the 12th. century but an earlier wattle and daub church may have been on the spot on the evidence of findings on repair work. It would originally have belonged to the monastery but for the use of the laity. In structure it is medieval but the change to reformed worship changed its character with a pulpit placed in front of the altar. As it was the only church of the Established Church for several centuries,galleries had to be built to accommodate worshipers. These changes and others were made by carpenters accustomed to building ships and this gives the church a special character. It is now one of the rare Anglican churches which have retained their Protestant character.
Early Whitby Banks When Whitby began to prosper from the shipbuilding and associated trades, there was a need for people who could look after the money and provide insurance for the Whitby ships. Whitby shopkeepers provided the means necessary and branched out into banking. Many of these were Quakers known for their honesty and trustworthiness. The shop opposite the Art centre was one such shopkeeper cum banker. His name was Sanders and the name is still etched into the glass in the doors of the shop, now called The Shepherd's Purse. Another prominent Whitby banking family were the Chapmans. Their bank, called the Whitby Bank was once considered by Whitby people as more reliable than the Bank of England. These banks later joined with other banks to become the banks we know to-day. The Whitby Bank joined Barclays Bank and there is a Whitby legend that Barclays kept the gate which led into the old bank as a souvenir of the old days.
White Horse and Griffin The increasing importance of Whitby meant that there was need for a land connection with York and the rest of the country. The first stage coach went to York from the inn called The White Horse and Griffin. One of its guest was Charles Dickens.It still retains its feel of an old inn because it was closed for business for many years and was used as a store by fishermen so no one felt the need to change its appearance. It has now been restored as a hotel and restaurant.
Artifact, medieval merchant's house This building was able to be dated when renovation work revealed dates from its timbers. The bay was a distance of a cow's stall and having three bays make this the home of a wealthier merchant.The kitchen was often in a separate building across a courtyard. This made sense as medieval houses were liable to fire especially the cooking area.Beyond the buildings there was a long yard or garden. At one time all the houses in Whitby were like this and it was these yards area which were filled with buildings during the period when there was a great demand for new buildings during the prosperous 18th century.
Captain James Cook is probably the best known former inhabitant of Whitby. He was born further north but he came to Whitby to learn his seamanship and lived in the attic of his employer in the house which is now a museum to his life and explorations.
Whitby Railway Station It was opened in 1846, designed by George T Andrews who designed the buildings for the Y&NM Rly and several other lines as well as several churches and bank buildings. Whitby was one of earliest places to plan to have a railway line and they chose one of the great pioneers George Stephenson. The family kept a connection with Whitby and his son represented Whitby in parliament.The Whitby and Pickering Railway was opened in 1836. It lacked an engine for it was pulled by a horse because no engine could go up the incline at Goathland.Instead a winding shed brought the horse and coach counterbalanced against a container of water. This first railway was amalgamated to the Y & NM railway directed by George Hudson who came to love Whitby and did a lot of the development of the westside before he went bankrupt.