St Mary’s Church, Whitby overlooks the fishing town and is used as a navigational aid for sailors due to it’s location and prominence.

St Mary’s Church, Whitby

It was here, at the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD, that the Saxon Christians decided to adopt the customs of the Roman Catholic church instead of the Celtic Church.

Whitby is also connected to William Scoresby (a whaler featured in Moby Dick), Bram Stoker (who set much of Dracula in Whitby) and Captain James Cook

199 steps lead up to the parish church of St. Mary