Fun family trail for the 'home of Easter'
Whitby Abbey, 6 – 9 April 2012
A fantastic family day out at the home of Easter awaits visitors this April at Whitby Abbey, where children will be invited to follow a spring trail and decode a secret phrase to receive a delicious chocolate treat!
English Heritage will be setting up a fun trail around the grounds and visitor centre of Whitby Abbey over the Easter weekend, inviting families from far and wide to enjoy the early spring at the iconic site. The trail runs from Good Friday (6 April) to Easter Monday (9 April) at Whitby Abbey, with the promise of a Lindt chocolate bunny for children completing the challenge!
Whitby Abbey’s special Easter link goes back well beyond any of the modern traditions of Easter bunnies, chicks and eggs. Indeed, it is nearly 1350 years since the Synod of Whitby was held at the wooden predecessor to today’s stone Abbey ruins, when many branches of the Christian Church gathered under the hospitality of St Hild to agree how the date for Easter would be calculated – a convention still followed today.
“Whitby Abbey means so many different things to so many different people – we welcome Christians who want to make their pilgrimage to this historic site, families who love to explore the historic ruins and fantastic views over Whitby, amateur photographers who delight in the masonry and shadows cast by the ruins, and the Goths who make their twice-yearly visits to the town which played such an important part in the gothic classic, Dracula,” comments head of visitor operations for English Heritage, Clea Warner. “Everyone is welcome, and with the site returning to daily opening from 31 March, we’re looking forward to 2012 being a bumper year for Whitby Abbey.”
Admission to Whitby Abbey is £6.20 for adults, £5.60 for concessions and £3.70 for children, or £16.10 for a family ticket (two adults and up to three children). The site is open daily from 10.00am to 6.00pm from 30 March.
The Easter Family Fun Trail is the first of many events taking place at Whitby Abbey throughout the year. Other highlights include a full summer of myths and legends with English Heritage’s Time Travellers, daily events throughout the school holidays, and performances of Dracula each weekend throughout the summer as Whitby Abbey joins the celebrations of Bram Stoker’s centenary.
The infamous vampire will return in November, when Whitby Abbey will re-open after dark (1-3 November) for the first ever promenade performances of Dracula to take place at night at Whitby Abbey.
For more information about Whitby Abbey’s packed 2012 events programme, please visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/whitbyabbey or call 0870 333 183 for details.
ENDS
For further media information, please contact:
Jay Commins – PRO English Heritage (Yorkshire)
Tel: 0113 251 5698
Mob: 07810 546567
Email: jay@fim.org.uk
