Days & Nights of Victorian Gothic

When: 28th – 30th October 2010, the day event runs from 12 noon til 3pm and the night event performances are at 5.30pm and 7.30pm

Where: Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire

£: Day tickets are 6 (concessions 5 and children 4) and night tickets 8 (concessions 7 and children 6).

Advance combination day and night tickets are 12.50 (concessions 10.50 and children 8.50), or 14.50 (concessions 12.50 and children 10.50) on the day.

What is it?

Go Gothic at Whitby Abbey as they run the Days of Victorian Gothic and Nights of Victorian Gothic events.  At the daytime event visitors will be able to discover the Victorians at their gothic best with costumed falconers performing displays with a range of hawks, falcons and owls.  Plus a group of performers will be hosting Victorian spooky storytelling sessions in the Big Top.  Hear from experts all about the Victorian’s fascination with death and funerals, the big ‘send offs’ were a mark of respectability and played a hugely important role in Victorian society.  It is also an industry with which Whitby had close associations, as the town produced much of the black jet used in mourning jewellery.

The main spectacle comes with the night event, when Whitby Abbey will be illuminated with dramatic theatre lighting and people have the opportunity to wander the gothic ruins at night.  Why not enjoy Victorian vaudeville shows in the grounds and witness the twice-nightly full Victorian funeral processions, including drumming chief mourner, weepers, black pennant and baton bearers, and a hearse drawn by black horses?

More info: Pre booking tickets for this event is recommended, call 0870 333 1183.  See the English Heritage website.