Guidebook: Whitby Abbey
Product Code: 00685The imposing ruins of Whitby Abbey stand on a high headland projecting into the North Sea. A monastery was first established at Whitby in AD 657 by Oswy, King of Northumbria. It became one of the most important religious centres in the Anglo-Saxon world, under the rule of St. Hild. In the 9th century the monastery was abandoned, possibly as the result of Viking raids. But after the Norman Conquest of 1066 a new community was established on the site by a Benedictine monk called Reinfrid. This foundation eventually grew into a great abbey - one of the richest monastic houses in Yorkshire. Drawing on the results of recent archaeological excavations, this guidebook includes a tour of the site and a fascinating history of the headland and its inhabitants.
