Whitby Abbey Cushion

Whitby Abbey is a 7th-century Christian monastery that later became a Benedictine abbey. The abbey church is situated overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England, a centre of the medieval Northumbrian kingdom. The abbey and its possessions were confiscated by the crown under Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1536 and 1545. Since that time, the ruins of the abbey have continued to be used by sailors as a landmark at the headland. Since the 20th century, the substantial ruins of the church have been declared a Grade I Listed building and are in the care of English Heritage. Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, who came ashore at the headland and climbed the 199 steps which lead up to the Whitby Abbey ruins.