Whitby Abbey, Whitby, North Yorkshire
A view of the ruins of Whitby Abbey before restoration by the Office of Works. The first monastery here was founded in AD 657 by King Oswy of Northumbria. It was an Anglo-Saxon style 'double monastery ' for men and women. Its first ruler was the formidable royal princess Abbess Hild. In 1078 the abbey was re-established by Reinfrid, one of William the Conqueror’s knights who had become a monk. It was a Benedictine Abbey. The present ruined buildings were begun in about 1220 in the Early English style of Gothic. The abbey was dissolved on 14 December 1539 when there were twenty two monks and domestic staff in residence.This site is now in the care of English Heritage (2011).
