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Three Ghost Stories from Whitby

Three Ghost Stories from Whitby

Notorious Whitby

Whitby is a seaside town and fishing port that lies on the northeast coast of England. It’s situated in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk. The town has a strong maritime history and tourist heritage. Whitby can also boast worldwide notoriety, thanks to the Irish author Abraham Stoker.

In 1890, ‘Bram’ Stoker paid his first visit to Whitby, holidaying with his wife and son. The town obviously made a huge impact on Stoker. The famed author later stated that it was the town’s unique atmosphere that gave him the inspiration to pen his world-famous novel ‘Dracula’. Using Whitby as a backdrop for his famed horror story, Stoker has ensured continuing global recognition for the small seaside town.

Apart from the town’s association with Dracula, it turns out that Whitby has more than its fair share of other spooky entities. Here are three home-grown ghostly tales from Whitby:

The Abbey and the Nun

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The original monastery on the current-day site of the Whitby Abbey ruin was built in 657 AD. It was founded by the Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria, Oswy, and known as Streoneshalh, the original name of Whitby.  The Abbey was destroyed by the Vikings in the late 9th century and lay in ruin for some 200 years. The Normans founded a new Abbey on the site in the late 11 century, which was largely rebuilt in the early 13th century.

According to legend, sometime during antiquity, a young nun took up residence at the Abbey. The nun was apparently a bit of a looker and on one fateful day, caught the eye of a handsome young knight who was passing through the area. The young nun was flattered by the knight’s attention and decided that a life of celibacy was not for her after all. However, news of the young nun’s midnight tryst with the handsome knight was soon common knowledge around the abbey. The sisters were livid that she had broken her vows of chastity and decided that severe punishment was needed. Their verdict was that the young nun should be bricked-up within the walls of the abbey.

Some visitors to the Abbey have reported hearing the terrifying screams of a young woman that is seemingly carried off the sea breeze. Others have said that they saw a fleeting apparition of a young woman running through the Abbey. Many are convinced it’s the spirit of Constance attempting to flee her would-be captors before judgment can be exercised.

It turns out that the fate of the young nun is very similar to that of Constance de Beverley. She was a fictional Whitby nun in the poem ‘Marmion’, by Sir Walter Scott. It’s not clear whether it was Scott’s poem that spawned the legend of the poor nun, or if Scott borrowed the idea from the legend to write his poem.

The Sad Tale of Hannah Grundy

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The seaside village and fishing port of Staithes is situated about 10 miles up the coast from Whitby on the northeast coast of England. Whilst in 19th century Britain it was almost always the men who caught the fish in the fishing communities, women generally played a big role in the processing, distribution, and disposal of the catch.

Another role of women and especially young girls, in order to earn a crust, was to gather ‘bait’ to sell to fishermen.  The ‘flither’ pickers as they were generally known, would gather limpets and similar sea creatures from under rocks close to the shoreline, walking up to 20 miles a day in their quest.

A pleasant evening in April 1807, saw Staithes teenager, Hannah Grundy flither picking with three friends. Hannah was feeling a little tired after a long day foraging the shoreline between Staithes and Whitby. She decided to sit down to rest at the base of a steep cliff while her three companions carried on. Unfortunately, it was to be Hannah’s last action. Minutes later, without warning, a large sharp-edged rock, fell from the cliff tops and sliced off her head.

Not long after her tragic death, reports of an apparition of a headless waif-like figure at West Cliff beach, the spot where she had died. where made. It was said she appeared to be looking amongst the stones and rock pools, along the shoreline in search of flither.

The ghostly sightings of Hannah, along West Cliff beach, have continued since that time up until the present day, mostly occurring around April time. Most reports describe the sighting as a whitish, almost transparent apparition, that floats down the face of the imposing cliffs. Perhaps somewhat curiously, the reported sightings of Hannah’s ghost have increased with the passage of time.

Beware the Silk Shawl

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The story goes that sometime during the late 18th century, some of Whitby’s fishermen had fallen on particularly hard times, due to several seasons of poor fishing. The band of desperate fishermen decided to turn to piracy as a way of supporting their families. On one particularly exploit, they captured a ship, where they found that the captain’s wife was accompanying him on the voyage.

No quarter given, the captain’s wife, along with the rest of the captive ship’s crew was made to walk the plank to a watery death. However, one of the pirates could not help noticing that the captain’s good lady was wearing a rather beautiful and expensive-looking silk shawl. As the lady prepared herself to meet her untimely fate, the pirate grabbed the shawl from her shoulders and then stowed it away in his locker.

On reaching port, the pirate took the shawl home as a gift for his wife. Needless to say, the pirate did not elaborate on how he had actually acquired the present. The pirate’s wife proceeded to place the shawl around her shoulders, whilst glancing admiringly into the mirror. However, what the wife saw next was the deathly ashen face of a woman staring back at her from the mirror. The ghostly image of the drowned captain’s wife then went on to point a long bony hand in accusation at the wearing of the shawl by the pirate’s wife. The tragic tale ends when the innocent wife of the pirate quickly goes mad and ends up dying shortly afterwards.

Apparently, the fate of the shawl is unknown. So, if you’re ever in Whitby and contemplating buying a silk shawl. Beware!

 

Header image credit: Steve Silver Smith/Shutterstock.com

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