Views over Whitby

Whitby is a town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, surrounded by the North York Moors national park and the heritage coastline.

A settlement with the Old English name of Streonshal was recorded in 656, when Oswy, the Christian king of Northumbria, founded the first Whitby Abbey, under the abbess, Hilda. The Synod of Whitby was held there in 664. In 867, the monastery was destroyed by Viking raiders, and was re-founded in 1078. It was in this period that the town gained its current name. In the following centuries Whitby functioned as a fishing settlement until, in the 18th century, it developed as a port and centre for shipbuilding and whaling, trade in locally mined alum and the manufacture of Whitby jet jewellery. The cliffs around Whitby hold ammonite fossils, and three green ammonites are featured on the coat of arms of Whitby Town Council.