Famous ‘Dracula Church’ under threat from landslide which has destroyed graveyard and sent human bones raining down on to town below
How many steps up to Whitby Abbey? I am sure a number of you will be able to let me know – well at least those of you who have read Bram Stoker. I love Whitby and have many happy holiday memories associated with it. This article, about the threats facing the church close by the Abbey, has a serious purpose however it reveals the “double whammy” of fluvial and coastal flood risk imperiling some of our most important coastal places. It reinforces the need to value settlements more broadly before coming to a view (recession and public sector austerity or not) about whether the funds can be found to protect them.
It tells us: “Barry Brown, owner of 140-year-old Fortune’s Kippers which is directly below the cliff, said: ‘I’m worried the cliff is going to come down and I don’t know what sort of damage it’s going to do.’If anything more comes down we are going to have to shut the shop because it will be too dangerous.”
The landslide comes after five houses in Aelfelda Terrace, Whitby, were demolished last month after flooding washed the steep bank beneath them away.