The old bridge connecting the old eastern part of the town with the newer west part.

Church Street in the old part of Whitby leading to the 199 Steps and Church Lane.

This shows the bottom of the 199 Steps next to the old cobbled Church Lane to the right of the steps. You may notice that Church Lane has it's own set of steps on the left-hand side of the lane to make it easier to get up the lane as the bottom part of Church Lane is extraordinarily steep.

Records show that the 199 Steps were in existence before AD 1370 although at that time they were constructed from wood. An old painting from 1717 ppears to show them still made of timber and brightly coloured. Records also show that the wooden steps were replaced with stone during the later half of the 18th century and in 1877 the number of steps was confirmed by two churchwardens.

Church Lane, known locally as the Donkey Path, probably pre-dates the stairs as it led up to the gatehouse of the medieval Abbey.

The abbey ruins at the top of the 199 Steps above Whitby Old Town. The original abbey was founded in 657 AD but destroyed by vikings in 867 and rebuilt in 1078.

It is currently managed by English Heritage but I'm not convinced that it is worth the entrance charge.