With its brooding abbey, tangle of red-roofed lanes and long fishing history, the North Yorkshire town of Whitby is one of England's most atmospheric seaside destinations, and never more so than in autumn when the Goths return.
High on a windswept cliff above the North Sea, the skeletal ruins of an ancient abbey keep watch over a huddle of red roofs and a busy little harbour. This is Whitby, a small town on the Yorkshire coast that manages to be at once a cheerful seaside resort and one of the most gloriously gothic places in all of England.
A town between two cliffs
Whitby sits where the River Esk cuts through the coast, splitting the town into two halves that climb the steep slopes on either side of the water. Fishing boats and pleasure craft share the harbour below, while a maze of narrow cobbled lanes, or yards, tumbles down toward the quaysides lined with shops and cafes.
It is a place that rewards the wanderer who is happy to get pleasantly lost. Every alley seems to open onto another view of the water, another huddle of old cottages, or another glimpse of the abbey standing dark against the sky, and the whole town has an unhurried charm that feels a world away from the modern city.
The abbey that inspired Dracula
Whitby's most famous association is with the undead, and for that it can thank the writer Bram Stoker. Staying in the town in the summer of 1890, he was captivated by the dramatic ruins of Whitby Abbey looming over the rooftops, and the eerie setting found its way straight into the pages of his gothic masterpiece Dracula.
In the novel the vampire comes ashore at Whitby in the shape of a great black dog, bounding up the cliff toward the churchyard. Today fans still seek out the spots described in the book, from the windswept graveyard of St Mary's Church, where Dracula's grave is said to lie, to the sweeping views that so unsettled Stoker himself.
Climbing the 199 steps
No visit to Whitby is complete without tackling its most famous walk, the long flight of stone steps that links the old town to the church and abbey on the East Cliff. There are one hundred and ninety nine of them in total, and generations of visitors have paused, a little breathless, to count them on the way up.
The reward at the top is more than worth the effort of the climb. From the clifftop the whole of Whitby unfolds below, the harbour and its twin piers, the tightly packed houses, and the open sea beyond, while behind you the great empty windows of the abbey frame the ever changing Yorkshire sky.
A weekend for the Goths
Whitby has long embraced its darker reputation, and nowhere is that clearer than during the twice yearly Whitby Goth Weekend. The autumn edition, timed for the very end of October around Halloween, fills the streets with an eclectic crowd dressed in elaborate black lace, velvet and Victorian finery.
Far from being a nuisance, the festival has become a beloved fixture that draws visitors from around the world and brings well over a million pounds into the local economy each year. For a few days the whole town leans happily into theatre, music and dressing up, and the results are as friendly as they are striking.
Whales, ships and a famous captain
Long before the tourists arrived, Whitby was a serious working port, and its wealth was built on the sea. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was a major whaling station, a history still marked today by the great whalebone arch that stands on the West Cliff and frames the abbey across the water.
The town also has a proud connection to exploration, for it was in Whitby that the young James Cook learned his seamanship, and the sturdy vessels that carried him around the globe were built in its shipyards. That maritime heritage is celebrated in a small museum and in the enduring character of the harbour itself.
Jet, kippers and simple pleasures
Whitby is also the traditional home of jet, a glossy black gemstone formed from fossilised wood that became hugely fashionable in the Victorian era for mourning jewellery. Small workshops in the old town still carve and polish it, and a piece of genuine Whitby jet makes a fittingly gothic souvenir of a visit.
For all its dark glamour, though, the town knows how to keep things simple and warm. A portion of fish and chips eaten by the harbour, a smoked kipper for breakfast and a bracing walk along the pier remain the true pleasures of Whitby, a place that wears its many layers of history with an easy, salty charm.
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