Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire

View of Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire. The abbey was founded by St Hilda in 657 on the site of an earlier Roman settlement. The Synod of Whitby was held here in 664- this was an important meeting between Celtic and Roman branches of the Christian church to determine the dating of Easter celebrations. The abbey was destroyed by Viking invaders in the 9th century but was rebuilt as a Benedictine monastery in the 11th century by followers of William the Conqueror. The Abbey was dissolved in 1538 and passed to the Cholmley family who built a mansion house from the bricks.