THE
TOWN OF WHITBY IN YORKSHIRE
Whitby
is a very beautiful and historically important town situated on the NE coast of
Yorkshire east of the North York Moors. The town developed at the mouth of the
River Esk which flows from the North York moors into the North Sea. The estuary
is situated on a very prominent geological fault line, giving rise to Lower
Jurassic sandstones on the west cliff and the shales and mudstones of the Upper
Lias on the east cliff. It is these cliffs which are famous for the variety of
fossils which can be found. It is one of those quirks of
nature that, although Whitby is situated on the east coast of England, the shape
of the coast line is such that at certain times of the year the sun can be seen
to set over the sea. And that we have an east cliff and a west cliff, although
as you look out to the North Sea, automatically thinks of North and South of the
river!
Whitby
has been a popular area for communities to settle from as long ago as Roman
times, but when St Hilda arrived there in AD657 the headland became one of the
holiest places in the country.
At
this time, Whitby was the home of an Anglo-Saxon called Caedmon who has been
described as the man "who laid the first great temple of English
poetry". Caedmon was originally an illiterate cow herder with an
embarrassing inability to sing and according to legend his problem was such that
he would hide away in a cow shed while his working friends entertained each
other with music and singing.
One
evening while hiding in the shed Caedmon fell into a deep sleep and dreamt that
an angel sent from heaven taught him how to sing. The following morning Caedmon
awoke to discover that his dream had come true and that he now had a marvellous
gift for singing phrases from the testament in the form of verse. St Hilda, the
abbess of Whitby, was greatly pleased with Caedmon's discovery and encouraged
him to utilise his talent in spreading the word of God.
It
was here on these sacred cliffs that a Benedictine house for monks and nuns was
established, and Hilda became the first Anglo-Saxon Abbess at Whitby. Hilda was
made famous as a result of the Synod of Whitby. The Christianising of Britain
begun by St. Augustine in A.D. 597 was carried on with varying success
throughout the seventh century. One great hindrance to progress lay in the fact
that in Northumbria
the missionary impulse was largely Scottish (i.e. Irish) in origin, having come
through St. Aidan from Iona. In certain matters of external discipline, notably
the observance of Easter, the English and Celtic traditions did not agree. Thus
when the Northumbrian King Oswy and his household were keeping Easter, his
queen, who had been brought up in the south under the Roman system, was still
fasting. The consequent inconvenience and discord must have been extreme. In 664
a fortunate opportunity occurred of debating the matter, and a conference took
place at the monastery of St. Hilda at Whitby, and it was this conference or
Synod that the decision was made that the British Isles should follow the Roman
way of Christianity rather than the much more gentle Celtic way.
With the
Danish invasions of 867, however, the monastery and the whole community were
totally destroyed. Vikings eventually became peaceful settlers at Whitby calling it `Hviteby'
- `the White Town'
The
Abbey we see today was completed in the 14th century
must have presented a grand spectacle from its commanding position above the
town. Even 650 years later the ruins still demand a lingering look from any
angle. The end came to the abbey when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, in
1539.
Although the abbey was left relatively intact at that time, by the end of the 18th century the years of neglect had taken their toll on the structure. The nave collapsed, followed by the south transept and a substantial part of the west front, and then in the 1830s the central tower fell, and the choir was badly damaged in a storm. Continually battered by the weather in its exposed location, Whitby Abbey suffered the final insult of being shelled by German cruisers patrolling the North Sea in 1914.
Whitby
Abbey
By the 18th century Whitby had become an important
port for fishing and general trade, serving a large area of North Yorkshire.
Some miles to the west of Whitby is the small coastal village of Staithes, which
was where one of our greatest seafarers was born: Captain James Cook
boy he was apprenticed to a local grocer, but it was not long before he acquired
a love for the sea which set him on course for his long and eventful career.
Indeed upon leaving Staithes, Cook headed straight for Whitby and from 1775 he
worked for a Whitby ship-owner employed on colliers shipping coals from the
River Tyne to London.
Cook's
knowledge of the sea went from strength to strength and upon joining the navy he
quickly progressed to the rank of Captain. In his voyages as Captain many
important discoveries of new land were made in journeys that took him to
Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, Tahiti and Hawaii, where he eventually lost his
life on the 14th February 1779 after a disagreement between local tribesmen and
members of his crew.
During
the 18th and 19th centuries Whitby was an important centre
for the whaling Industry as well as being a very important fishing port.
It was this importance of the sea and no doubt the ancient abbey and the nearby St Mary’s church situated on the east cliff at the top of the famous 199 steps which lead Bram Stoker to use Whitby as a very important location for his Dracula novel.
St Mary’s Church
Whitby continued to be a
very important fishing town throughout most 
of the 20th century.
Whaling however had declined by the 1930’s with the onset of the large factory
whalers which were too large to use the harbour. During the latter part of the
20th century fishing declined to a bare fraction of its former glory
as indeed most of Britain’s fishing industry has done.
A visitor to Whitby today will find a delightful seaside town with beautiful beaches on the west side of the town, beneath the sandstone cliffs, and stretching a couple of miles or so to the village of Sandsend. Central to the town is the harbour and the quay. Fishing boats still come and go and land fish on the quay. Small boats also can take visitors on fishing trips or just pleasure trips out to sea. One such vessel is the 40% scaled down version of Capt. Cook’s Endeavour, a 3 masted sailing ship.
Whitby Harbour
The town itself is basically divided into two by the river. On
the west side is the more modern town with its shopping centre, hotels and
holiday accommodation. There is a beautiful park in which the Whitby museum is
located. This museum is a must for any visitor to the town, particularly those
interested in geology. The specimens therein are superb! From huge ammonites to
the plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs which lived in the warm Jurassic seas. The old
town is a delight with narrow streets and lots of excellent small shops, many
selling fossils, rocks and minerals and there is the recurrent fishing and
seafaring theme ever evident. Not far from the famous 199 steps which lead up to
St Mary’s Church and the Abbey – the very evocative smell of kippers being
smoked gently
wafting through the air ….. that feeling of “I must have some kippers
tonight”. The town boasts some excellent fish and chip restaurants and the
taste of fresh fish straight from the sea is something not to miss. One café I
noticed, there was a queue which stretched out into the street with people
waiting for fish and chips. This was the Magpie café on the west side of the
harbour.
The cliffs on the east side are composed of Upper Lias mudstones and shales and it is within these rocks that a vast array of ammonites, belemnites and other marine fossils of this period can be found. In addition to the fossils examples of the famous Whitby Jet can be found. It is sometimes classed as a semi-precious gemstone when it has been cut and polished. It is in fact related to coal and is the result of very complex chemical reactions going on under the influence of high pressures found as a result of burial of the sediments. Tree trunks and logs (many are thought to have been from a kind of a pine tree, related to today’s monkey puzzle tree) floated down the rivers into the sea, became waterlogged and then sank into the mud at the bottom of the sea. After many millions of years the mud became shales and mudstones and the water logged wood eventually was turned into the jet as we know it. It is very hard and can be cut and polished into jewellery and was very popular during Victorian times. Over recent years its popularity has returned.
Boggle
Hole YHA
I hope
my dear reader that you have enjoyed this brief tour of Whitby. If you have any
further questions, Please contact the author D.I.Iosson on Ian_iosson@yahoo.com
Copyright:
Soulgrowth.co.uk 2002