A Most Noble Ruin Dene Bebbington is at Whitby Abbey
Dene Bebbington considers how Whitby and its abbey inspired the legendary Dracula
IT is a most noble ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits,” says Mina of Whitby Abbey in the 1897 novel Dracula. As a setting in one of the most legendary works in English literature, Whitby will forever be associated with the sinister Count. The eerie abbey ruins, windswept churchyard, perilous seas and perhaps, too, the town’s long association with jet – a semi-precious stone used in mourning jewellery – played a large part in influencing the novel’s author.
Abraham “Bram” Stoker (18471912) first came to Whitby in 1890, following a recommendation from his business manager, eminent actor Henry Irving. He stayed with his wife and their son at a guest house on the Royal Crescent.
The town left a strong impression on him and he returned several times. On his first visit he browsed the public library and found a book which mentioned Vlad the Impaler – infamous in the 15th century for the horrible practice of impaling captured enemies. Stoker had found the name of his own villain: Vlad’s nickname was Dracula.
In the novel, our vampire Count arrives in Whitby harbour during a storm on the Demeter: “The waves rose in growing fury, each overtopping its fellow, till in a very few minutes the lately glassy sea was like a roaring and devouring monster. The corpse of the captain, lashed to the ship’s wheel, is all that remains of the crew, a crucifix stuck fast between his hand.”
Built around the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby is indeed a likely place for a storm and the town in Stoker’s day would have been full of salty tales from seafarers – the North Sea is notoriously tricky to navigate. A real Russian ship, the Dmitry, had been wrecked on Whitby’s cliffs in 1885 and it was from this that Stoker got the idea. Dracula is soon roaming the town claiming his first Whitby victim, Mr Swales. Visit the graveyard at St Mary’s church next to the abbey and you’ll realise the author also wandered this way – there is a tombstone etched with Swales’s name.
Viking invaders also hoping to draw blood came from across the water.
The original abbey was built in 657 but destroyed by 870 due to Viking raids. A new abbey was founded around 1078 by the monk Reinfrid, and the ruins we see today date from the 13th century when the monastery church was rebuilt in the Gothic style.
Like the authors of Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde before him, Stoker got the initial idea for Dracula from an unsettling dream – in his case induced by “eating too much dressed crab at dinner one night”. The spur for the story came from his visits to other locations too, such as Slains Castle, Scotland. Contrary to popular belief, he never visited Romania.
After publication, reviews of the novel were mixed. Arthur Conan Doyle was a keen supporter, saying that it was the best story of diablerie he’d read for years, though others took issue with it being written in diary form. Dracula enjoyed only modest popularity in Stoker’s lifetime and he died relatively poor. Little could he have imagined its subsequent success with millions of copies having been sold in over 40 languages.
Many of us are attracted to Whitby thanks to Stoker. English Heritage, the custodians of the abbey, have recently launched an interactive guide, and in the revamped museum you can uncover more about Stoker’s visits.
An annual alternative music festival is held in the town due to its Dracula connections and even Coldplay performed in the shadow of the abbey ruins. A Whitby Goth Weekend is also held twice a year.
One can only wonder what Stoker would make of the Goths. Maybe he’d think he’d eaten too much dressed crab again, or perhaps he’d find it fitting for the town he inextricably linked to supernatural horror.