| 657 |
Northumberland King Oswy founded a
monastery with a mixed community of men and women. It flourished
under the rule of Abbess Hild, attracting future bishops and the
first known English religious poet Caedmon. |
| 664 |
Synod of Whitby. King Oswy decides in favour of the Roman over
the Celticrite of calculating the date of Easter and thus
determining the pattern of the religious calendar, helping to pave
the way for future political unification of England. |
| 671 |
King Oswy dies. Buried in the church of St Peter at Whitby. |
| 680 |
Abbess Hild dies and becomes St Hild. Important relics are
brought to Whitby. |
| 731 |
Bede completes his Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
For Bede, the foundation of Whitby Abbey was a turning point in this
history - England`s conversion to Christianity. |
| 867 |
Whitby Abbey may have been sacked by the Danes, but some sort of
devotion probably continued. The name "Streaneashalch"
disappears, replaced by the viking name of "Whitby", meaning
"White or Hvitis farmstead". |
| 944 |
The bones of St Hild sent to Glastonbury by Edmund I. |
| 1066 - 1087 |
Reinfrid, a knight who fought for William
the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings,visits Whitby Abbey. |
| 1073 - 1074 |
Re-foundation of Whitby Abbey - Mission of
the North, Reinfrid, now a monkof the Benedictine Order,
returns after setting out from Evesham Abbey to visit and restore
the northern shrines. |
| 1078 - 1087 |
Reinfrid re-establishes monastic life at
Whitby Abbey and work on a churchbegins. Reinfrid dies while
helping to build a bridge. |
| 1086 |
The Doomsday Book says Whitby is worth 60
shillings. |
| 1120 |
Burgage granted to the Abbott. |
| 1220 |
New presbytery built. |
| 1250 - 1260 |
Choir completed along with crossing and
transepts. |
| 1320
|
Reconstruction of the main body of the
nave begins. It was probably only finally completed in the
late 15th Century. |
| 1334 |
Great Storm of Martinmas blows down the
fabric of the nave. Archbishop of York gives formal assent to
a fund-raising campaign by senior monk Richard Lumby to help
complete building works on the church. |
| 1539 |
The last Abbott William Davell and twenty
monks surrender Whitby Abbey to Henry VIII`s commissioners
during the dissolution. Monastic estates had an annual value of
£437.2s.9p.and the abbey had enjoyed a continuous existence for
more than 400 years. |
| 1541 |
Abbey site and precinct leased to Richard
Cholmley, who buys the freehold in 1545. Many of the abbey
buildings demolished but the church preserved. The Abbott`s
lodgings, now known as Abbey House, becomes the main residence. |
| 1630 |
Important changes to the Abbey House,
under the direction of Sir Hugh Cholmley II. The north range
new extension and facade of Abbey House completed at a cost of
£232,000, known as the Banqueting House, (now the new visitor
centre). |
| 1736 |
Abbey`s south transept collapses of which
little survives today. |
| 1762 |
The nave collapses. |
| 1880 - 1900 |
Seven prints of Whitby Abbey completed by
Whitby photographer Frank Meadow Sutcliffe. |
| 1897 |
Publication of Bram Stokers Dracula,
featuring the headland as the location for part of the novel. |
| 1914 |
A German shell during the naval
bombardment hits the abbey, severely damaging the west front
of the church. |
| 1920 - 1925 |
The abbey site is acquired by the Ministry
of Works and the west front of the church rebuilt. Sir
Charles Peers heads the first archaeological excavation. Remains
are found of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery. |
| 1944 |
Headland a base for anti-aircraft battery. |
| 1958 |
Rahtz discovers medieval and post-medieval
evidence during excavations. A second excavation to the south
east of the church by Rahtz & Paccitto
reveals several skeletons, presumed to be part of the lay cemetery
of the 13th Century. |
| 1989 |
Princess Anne comes to Whitby Abbey,
recognising 450 years since dissolution. |
| 1993 - 2001 |
Archaeological research, evaluation and
excavation work undertaken by English Heritage. |
| 1999 - 2000 |
Excavation exposes part of a massive
Anglo-Saxon cemetery. |