"It is difficult to imagine any more impressive sight
than Whitby Abbey must have presented to ships passing
along the Yorkshire coast before the sixteenth century wreckers had dismantled and defaced
it. The church was 300 feet by 69 feet, with transepts
1 50 feet across, and the vaulting was 60 feet above the
floor. The central tower rose far into the air to serve
as a landmark by day, whilst by night the lights of
St Hilda's tower shone far out to sea "from high Whitby's cloister'd pile" to cheer and guide those who
sailed in ships, over that long stretch of water without
a harbour." Extract from "The Greater Abbeys of England" (Open Library).
Whitby Abbey is a English Heritage property with free entry for English Heritage members.
