Dracula's abbey, whale bones, and the world's best fish and chips
Whitby is a dramatic Yorkshire fishing town split by the River Esk, dominated by the ruined Benedictine abbey that inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula — the graveyard where Lucy is turned is still there, still atmospheric. The famous whalery arch on the West Cliff frames the harbour where Captain Cook's ships were built, and the old town below the 199 steps is a maze of smokehouses and indie goth shops. Whitby's jet jewellery — polished fossilised wood from the surrounding cliffs — was popularised by Queen Victoria during mourning for Prince Albert.
Whitby Abbey was founded in 657 CE by Abbess Hild — a rare female religious leader who hosted the Synod of Whitby in 664 CE, which determined that England would follow Roman rather than Celtic Christianity, shaping the entire future of the English Church. The abbey was destroyed by the Danes in 867 CE, refounded by the Normans in 1078, and finally dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539. Captain James Cook served his apprenticeship in Whitby, and his Endeavour was a Whitby-built collier. Bram Stoker stayed in Whitby in 1890 and used the town as the setting for Dracula's arrival in England.