Church of St Ninian

A chapel of ease called St Ninian's was known to have been in existence on Baxtergate in Whitby since the late 14th century. This was located quite near to the harbour walls near Horse-Mill Ghaut. This has led to some speculation of it being a Medieval bridge chapel. The current chapel, of late 18th century origin, was built on the opposite side of the road to the earlier Chapel, and as the altar does not face towards the east, the church was noted for not being orientated. It was originally opened as an Episcopal chapel and was sometimes known as Baxtergate Chapel, before later becoming St Ninians. The 1778 church was built by local people and owned by them, not the Church of England. As…

Completed in October 1778, the external walls are finished in brown brick, and the internal designs were akin to the wooden designs of the local ships. The cupboards in the vestry were fashioned to be like the locker's on ships, again a legacy of those who built the interior of the church in the first place. A Whitby mast-maker, Isaac Allanson, supplied the men and materials for the three galleries that line the church on three sides, with supports made from oak wood. The carpenters were used when the ship-building trade was "slack", or could be spared from the yard. Supporting the roof is nearly 30,000 ft of sawn timber. At that time, imports of timber were being hampered by a blockade…