The History Of The Lovely Town Of Whitby As A Tourist Resort.

The history of Whitby is both varied and interesting. The forerunner of Whitby Abbey was a wooden church construction, built on the top of the East Cliff in AD 656, little is known about Whitby prior to this period. Whitby was given the Saxon name of Streonshalh (lighhouse bay), which almost certainly came from the fact that there was a lighthouse situated in the same area. The towns close proximity of the Roman Roads, and a couple of coins found nearby have led to speculation that there may have been a Roman settlement here. There have been many Roman Settlements in the immediate area, and indeed, in some of the moorland villages there is evidence of such settlements.

St. Hilda first established Whitby Abbey in AD 656, it is thought she lived there until her death in AD 680. It is said that she was respected by many Kings, and was a very remarkable woman. A famous early English poet, named Caedmon, was a lowly herdsman when Hilda inspired him to write down his dreams. The abbey location of the Synod of Whitby in AD 664, was chosen by King Oswiu of Northumbria, to calculate the date of Easter in line with the customs of Rome. Legend has it that St. Hilda drove a plague of snakes off the end of the cliff and these turned to stone. The stone like fossils called ammonites are, in fact, called hildoceras after St. Hilda. Many years ago snakes heads were carved onto the ammonites and sold as souvenirs. The plaque of Whitby Town displaysThree ammonites.

After the death of St. Hilda, the wooden monastery was succeeded by a 40 cell stone construction later to be wrecked by the Danes circa AD 866. It lay derelict for a further two centuries until the present Abbey began to be constructed around 1078 after the land was given to Reinfrid, a Knight. It was close to this time that the town obtained its modern name of Whitby (white-town). In 1334 a gale blew down the nave walls, again it was rebuilt. The Reformation by Henry VIII with the Dissolution of the Monastries destroyed it in 1539. The building stood until 1711 however in 1736 the south transept collapsed and the nave fell in 1794. In 1830 the central tower crumbled and storms destroyed the choir in 1839. On December 14th, 1914, the abbey was shelled by the Germans.

After the rebuilding of the Abbey in about 1078, the town expanded from just a few houses on the cliffs near the Abbey, to lots of buildings on both sides of the river. In 1128 King Henry VIII granted permission for a fair in honour of St. Hilda on August 25th and a second fair in November.

Whitby was an established fishing port with a developing population, around the time of Elizabeth 1st. By the end of the 1500s a Thomas Chaloner of York, travelled to Italy and visited some alum works. Recognising the alum rock as being very similar to the rocks near his estate in North Yorkshire, he began an alum industry here and this broke the monopoly that Italy had in providing England with alum, which was essential in the fixing of dyes in cloth and the curing of leather. The producing of alum in the numerous mines around the area further increased the commerce in the port.

Fishing in Whitby began to include Whaling, in the middle of the 18th century. Between 1753 and 1837 there were 577 whaling expeditions, between 1753 and 1837. The most famous of the whaling captains was Captain William Scoresby (1760-1829),, he invented the crows nest in 1807. With the decline of the whaling industry, the last ship The Camden made its last whaling voyage in 1837.

Another well-known son of Whitby is Captain James Cook (1728 - 1779). Born in Marton, he moved to Great Ayton when he was 8 where he went to the local school (now a museum). At the age of 16 he moved to Staithes to become an apprentice to a grocer. The love of the sea, however, saw him to move to Whitby after 18 months to live with the Walker family, a local shipbuilders. After serving a three year apprenticeship he then sailed with the merchant navy rising through the ranks. In 1755 he joined the Royal Navy and in 1768 he commanded HMS Endeavour which was hired by the Royal Society to record the transit of venus across the sun. He sailed to the Pacific where the observations were to be made then continued to map out New Zealand and later The coastline of Australia. In Grape Lane on Whitbys East Side there is The Captain Cook Museum which is, in fact, the original house he lived in at the time of his apprenticeship. On Whitby West Cliff there is a statue of Captain Cook, which stands looking out to sea. It was presented to Whitby by the MP Sir Gervase Becket MP in 1912.

The Whitby to Pickering Railway was built by George Hudson in 1839, This greatly increased the popularity of Whitby as a tourist destination. Hudson additionally constructed many of the buildings in the West Cliff area, many of which are substantial houses and hotels. Tourism has grown hugely in the town from the Victorian era. In the town you will find a wide variety of whitby cottages, guest houses, hotels, self-catering establishments and restaurants. This growth is continuing with the introduction of more attractions, restaurants and tourist related properties.