St Mary's Church
About
The parish church at the top of the 199 steps, and a separate place from the abbey ruin a few hundred metres further on, which visitors routinely conflate. It is worth going inside for one reason above all: the interior is an unrestored galleried arrangement of white box pews crammed in at every level, fitted by ships' carpenters over generations, and it looks like nothing else you will walk into on this coast. The churchyard around it is the one Bram Stoker used, and Caedmon's memorial cross stands near the cliff edge. Opening is generally daytime and shortens in winter; services take precedence.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Galleried interior of white box pews, fitted by ships' carpenters
- ✓The clifftop churchyard used in Bram Stoker's Dracula
- ✓Caedmon's memorial cross near the cliff edge
- ✓A separate site from the abbey, with its own entrance and its own hours
Tips
- →It is a working parish church. Check for services before planning a visit around it.
- →Hours are broadly daytime and shorten in winter; ring 01947 603421 if you are making a special trip.
- →Combine it with the abbey, which is a few minutes further along the clifftop, rather than treating either as a substitute for the other.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Whitby Abbey
The medieval abbey ruin on the East Cliff, with an English Heritage museum covering Hild, Caedmon and the Dracula connection.
The 199 Steps
The grade I listed Church Stairs from Church Street up to St Mary's, in use since at least 1370, with coffin-rest platforms on the way.
Captain Cook Memorial Museum
The Grape Lane house where Cook lodged as an apprentice, now a museum of his Whitby years and the voyages that followed.