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Right: Whitby Abbey, the ruin that inspired Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' Below: The Church of St Mary and Whitby Abbey on East Cliff
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WHITBY
How did this well-to-do Victorian resort town become the inspiration for one of Gothic fiction’s darkest tales? WORDS NATASHA FOGES
the looming, skeletal abbey, he began taking notes for what would become his most famous novel. Little has changed since, and the “beautiful and romantic bits” are still shadowed by a dark Gothic edge. The town’s historic core on the East Cliff is captivating – all cobbled streets, quaint cottages, tearooms and antiques shops, as well as shops selling jet, an industry that took off in the time of Queen Victoria, who popularized the wearing of the black stone in mourning jewellery. On the side streets you might spot some more esoteric offerings – shops selling Goth clothes, and jewellery in the shape of bats and skulls; it’s no surprise that Whitby is beloved of Goths, and hosts a twice-yearly Goth festival, attracting fans from the world over. Stoker honoured his muse by including key Whitby landmarks in his tale. The 199 steps that lead to the abbey, for example, are in the novel ascended by a shape-shifting
PHOTOS: © NIGEL WALLACE-ILES/ENGLISH HERITAGE/RICHARD BURDON
most noble ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits”; Bram Stoker’s description of Whitby Abbey in Dracula, his masterpiece of Gothic horror, rings just as true today. 2022 will mark the 125th anniversary of the book’s publication, and there’s no better time to plan a visit to this atmospheric Yorkshire town. The idea for Dracula first came to Stoker while on a summer holiday in Whitby, a former fishing village turned genteel Victorian resort. He arrived at the guesthouse of one Mrs Veazey at 6 Royal Crescent at the end of July 1890. He was to be joined a week later by his wife and baby son, and – turfed out of the guesthouse in the mornings so his landlady could clean his room – he used his free time to explore. Stoker wandered the windswept headland, soaking up the atmosphere and hearing salty tales from the local fishermen. Inspired by the town’s narrow alleys, secret staircases, and
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