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| Name: | Donkey Road or Church Stairs, Whitby |
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| NY SMR Number: | MNY8764 |
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| Type of record: | Building |
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| Last edited: | Mar 13 2018 11:50AM |
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Protected Status
- Listed Building (I) 326510: DONKEY ROAD
- Listed Building (I) 326509: THE CHURCH STAIRS
| Grid Reference: | NZ 900 112 |
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| Parish: | Whitby [4035]; Scarborough |
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Monument Type(s):
- TRACKWAY (7th CENTURY to Modern - 657 AD? to 2050 AD)
- STEPS (14th CENTURY to Modern - 1370 AD? to 2050 AD)
Other References/Statuses
- Old Sites & Monuments Record Number: 7464.00040
Full description
LEADING FROM WHITBY TOWN TO THE ABBEY SITE AND THE PARISH CHURCH THIS ROUTEWAY HAS PROBABLY EXISTED FROM THE FIRST MONASTRY IN 657AD. NOW EXISTS AS A PAVED TRACK LAST RELAYED IN 1993. STEPS FIRST MENTIONED IN 1370 THOUGH THESE ARE NOW C18 OR C19 REPLACEMENTS. WATCHING BRIEF IN 1993 FOUND NOTHING. (1)
A watching brief on stonework repairs to the Church Stairs was carried out in 2005. The work included a photographic survey and anaysis of the fabric. Most of the fabric was 19th century in date although the stairs were thought o be of Medieval origin. The Donkey path was interprteted as an earlier route than the Church Stairs. (2)
A flight of steps and a stone track. The flight comprises 199 stone steps which lead up to the parish
church. This was first mentioned in 1370 but the present structure probably dates to the 18th/19th century. The track is to the right of the Church Stairs and is cut out of the hillside leading to the Abbey House. A former Lord Mulgrave is celebrated for driving a coach and four horses up it in the
1780s, but most of the present stones are probably 19th-century. Grade I listed (3,4)
<1> Department of the Environment, LIST OF BUILDINGS "Greenbacks" (List of Buildings). SNY1451.
<2> Colin Briden Historic Buildings Archaeologist, 01/2006, The Church Stairs Whitby report on a Watching Brief (Report). SNY12673.
<3> Humber Field Archaeology, 06/2008, Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire: Whitby to Reighton., WH24 (Report). SNY12366.
<4> Humber Field Archaeology, 09/2014, Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment, Phase 3. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire - Project Overview and Thematic Discussion of Selected Aspects (Report). SNY20834.
Sources and further reading
| <1> | SNY1451 - List of Buildings: Department of the Environment. LIST OF BUILDINGS "Greenbacks". |
| <2> | SNY12673 - Report: Colin Briden Historic Buildings Archaeologist. 01/2006. The Church Stairs Whitby report on a Watching Brief. Briden, C. 2009/03/31. |
| <3> | SNY12366 - Report: Humber Field Archaeology. 06/2008. Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire: Whitby to Reighton.. Buglass, J & Brigham, T. 2008/06/10. WH24. |
| <4> | SNY20834 - Report: Humber Field Archaeology. 09/2014. Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment, Phase 3. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire - Project Overview and Thematic Discussion of Selected Aspects. Brigham, T. 2015/02/03. |
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