Whitby Abbey

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3 Responses

  1. galaxion says:

    Re: Whitby Abbey
    a really nice place even the steep walk up but lush all the same

  2. PennyTraition says:

    Re: Whitby Abbey
    Another absolute must to visit. Whitby in a storm is exhilerating; it is easy to see how Bram Stoker got his inspiration for the novel ‘Dracula’, with the abbey silhoutted against a darkened sky, the shipwreck that occured when Stoker was staying there,the whale’s jawbone, the vast cemetery… A small fishing town on the Northern coast with winding roads up steep inclines.Of late, ‘Dracula Experience’ type places have somewhat marred its quaint beauty but nevertheless another crucial Northern place to visit ,absorb the atmosphere and learn about the fascinating St.Hild(e)…

  3. Ian Topham says:

    Re: Whitby Abbey
    Haunted Churches’ (1939), Elliott O’Donnell (27 February 1872 – 8 May 1965)

    Whitby Abbey is popularly believed to be haunted, at times, by a variety of ghostly phenomena, among them a figure supposed to be the phantom of the Lady Hilda. She, or rather it, appears in daylight, normally between 10 a.m. and noon, during the summer season, and has, I am told, been photographed, the photograph depicting a shadowy face peering out of a window.

    A treasure is rumoured to be buried in the Abbey and, from time to time, attempts, usually clandestine, have been made to locate it. On one occasion, so the story goes, a Nonconformist minister and his daughter, armed with spades, stole into the abbey one moonlight summer night and, separating, commenced digging in what they thought were likely spots. They had been thus engaged perhaps an hour or so, when a hand tapped the daughter lightly on the shoulder.

    " Yes, Pa," she said, " what is it ? " There was no reply, only another tap.

    "Stop it, Pa," she exclaimed irritably. " Don’t be so silly. Why can’t you speak ! " Still no response but another tap. She looked round angrily and saw, not her father, but a tall figure in white, with no head, whereupon she fainted.

    On another occasion, a man and a boy were passing near the abbey, early one morning, on their way to work, when they heard the sound of wheels in their rear.

    They moved to the side of the road and a great hearse-like coach-and-four tore past them, driver and horses lacking heads. In terrified silence they watched it disappear in the direction of the abbey.

    There is also a bell tradition in connection with the abbey. 1 When the abbey was suppressed in 1539, its bells were sold and put on board a ship, to be taken to London. The vessel had not, however, got out of sight of shore, before, from some mysterious cause, it sank. Fishermen sailing near the spot some days later were astounded to hear the chiming of bells proceeding from the sea-bed, and, periodically, ever since they have continued to send forth their ghostly music.

    Up from the heart of the ocean
    The mellow music peals.
    Where the sunlight makes its golden path,
    And the seamew flits and wheels.

    For many a chequered century Untired by flying time, The bells no human fingers touch Have rung their hidden chime.