Founded in 657 by St Hilda, known via the writings of the Venerable Bede, this mixed monastery is supposedly built on land conceded by Oswy, King of Northumbria. It was here that the poet Caedmon "sang of the creation of the world"; according to Bede, he was the first poet to sing in the vernacular. The remains visible today date from the 13C reconstruction. The Early English style, which you will also find at Rievaulx, a contemporary of Whitby, is remarkable.