English Heritage

657Sacred Site

Hild, an Anglian nobleman's daughter, with the support of Oswiu, King of Northumbria, founds Streaneshalch monastery for monks and nuns.

Find out more about the history of the abbey

664Roman Rules

King Oswiu rules in the Synod of Whitby that the Northumbrian church will calculate Easter and obey monastic customs based on Roman rather than Celtic tradition.

9th CenturyFirst Abandonment

The Anglian town and monastery are abandoned, probably as a result of Viking raids from Denmark, followed by permanent Danish settlers.

1078-1100New Beginnings

Reinfrid, a monk, founds a Benedictine monastery at Whitby. Timber buildings are replaced by stone, in the Romanesque style.

13th-15th Centuries

Part of the monastery church is rebuilt in the Gothic style, over a period of 200 years.

Why is Whitby Abbey significant?

1539The Cholmley Family

The monastery is suppressed by Henry VIII. Richard Cholmley buys it.

1641-5Civil War

Sir Hugh Cholmley defends Scarborough Castle for Charles I. Parliamentarian troops capture and loot Whitby.

1645Grand Additions

Sir Hugh Cholmley II restores the estate. He adds a grand new wing, the Banqueting Hall, and lays out a formal approach entrance courtyard.

18th-19th CenturiesLeft to Ruin

The abandoned abbey church erodes and mostly collapses. The town is now a popular tourist seaside resort, and engravings and paintings of the ruin are created.

1857-66Strickland Holiday Home

Charles Strickland, descendant of the Cholmleys, adds a wing to the surviving part of the Abbey House, adapting it as a holiday residence.

1914War Damage

The German High Seas Fleet shells Whitby and strikes the abbey ruins. There is much damage to the west front.

1920First Excavations

The Strickland family gives the abbey to the Ministry of Works. Sir Charles Peers uncovers evidence of the Anglian settlement.

1993-2008Modern Preservation

English Heritage carries out archaeological excavations and surveys. Remains threatened by cliff erosion are rescued.

Learn more about Whitby Abbey