Lil

There doesn't seem to be a fixed pronunciation or spelling today, but for ease of telling the legends apart, for this story, I've gone with a spelling used in the Whitby Repository magazine, in which the spooky legend was recorded in 1831.

Although all our stories and legends today are in the graveyard and not the church itself, I can't resist a peek inside St Mary's. You might think that the place is most marvelled at for its great age, but in fact people are fascinated by its much more modern interior.

Although all our stories and legends today are in the graveyard and not the church itself, I can't resist a peek inside St Mary's. You might think that the place is most marvelled at for its great age, but in fact people are fascinated by its much more modern interior.

Anyone used to English churches is familiar with the typical rows of hard wooden pews standing in linear fashion either side of a long isle of the nave, facing a pulpit or lectern with the altar beyond. So St Mary's Church is rather a surprise, with its higgledy-piggledy jumble of pews and gallery boxes that look more like theatre stalls than the neat, orderly seating of a church.

Anyone used to English churches is familiar with the typical rows of hard wooden pews standing in linear fashion either side of a long isle of the nave, facing a pulpit or lectern with the altar beyond. So St Mary's Church is rather a surprise, with its higgledy-piggledy jumble of pews and gallery boxes that look more like theatre stalls than the neat, orderly seating of a church.

In the centre, thick, grand columns soar up to a high ceiling, but further back, shorter columns, some squat, and some, like slender barley sugar twists, support a gallery that meanders around the walls. Instead of the orderly rows that we're used to, pews facing in different directions are crammed in like the blocks of a puzzle.

In the centre, thick, grand columns soar up to a high ceiling, but further back, shorter columns, some squat, and some, like slender barley sugar twists, support a gallery that meanders around the walls. Instead of the orderly rows that we're used to, pews facing in different directions are crammed in like the blocks of a puzzle.

And it takes me a while to realise that this haphazard-seeming arrangement is actually all designed to face a central pulpit. A precarious-looking, three-tiered affair decked in red velvet in the middle of the church. I'm not sure what the designer was going for here, but at first glance it has the endearing look of a lopsided, slightly drunken attempt at an aerial bandstand.

And it takes me a while to realise that this haphazard-seeming arrangement is actually all designed to face a central pulpit. A precarious-looking, three-tiered affair decked in red velvet in the middle of the church. I'm not sure what the designer was going for here, but at first glance it has the endearing look of a lopsided, slightly drunken attempt at an aerial bandstand.

In fact, the whole place has a rather dizzying, surreal effect, and I can understand why author Andrew White described the feel and proportion of the interior in his book A History of Whitby as like being between decks in a ship.

In fact, the whole place has a rather dizzying, surreal effect, and I can understand why author Andrew White described the feel and proportion of the interior in his book A History of Whitby as like being between decks in a ship.

I can see what he means, and, as he points out, this may not be so far from the truth, because it's quite likely that any woodworkers in Whitby capable of building the galleries could well have spent much of their lives in the business of shipbuilding.

I can see what he means, and, as he points out, this may not be so far from the truth, because it's quite likely that any woodworkers in Whitby capable of building the galleries could well have spent much of their lives in the business of shipbuilding.

There is a very practical reason for this jumbled-looking layout, though, and that is simply that by the end of the 17th century, the church had run out of room for the rapidly increasing number of parishioners, and so galleries, pews and extensions were added during the 16th, 17th and 1800s.

There is a very practical reason for this jumbled-looking layout, though, and that is simply that by the end of the 17th century, the church had run out of room for the rapidly increasing number of parishioners, and so galleries, pews and extensions were added during the 16th, 17th and 1800s.

The accumulation of seating in various styles over the centuries, and the fact that many of the box pews were privately owned and designed and decorated according to the tastes of the owner, creates the somewhat chaotic but unique effect.

The accumulation of seating in various styles over the centuries, and the fact that many of the box pews were privately owned and designed and decorated according to the tastes of the owner, creates the somewhat chaotic but unique effect.

It was loathed by many of the prim and proper Victorians, including one Reverend W. Keane, who described it as perhaps the most depraved sacred building in the kingdom. But others loved it for its eccentricities, as, I must admit, do I. As I make to leave, a sign in the porch catches my eye.

It was loathed by many of the prim and proper Victorians, including one Reverend W. Keane, who described it as perhaps the most depraved sacred building in the kingdom. But others loved it for its eccentricities, as, I must admit, do I. As I make to leave, a sign in the porch catches my eye.

pinned up on the notice board by weary church wardens, apparently tired of fielding endless requests from Taurus who, just like me, are on the trail of Dracula, it sternly requests, please do not ask staff where Dracula's grave is, as there isn't one. I chuckle to myself as I head back into the graveyard. They're right, of course, in a way,