English School, Whitby Harbour with St Mary’s Church

Whitby’s harbour lies at the mouth of the River Esk on the North Yorkshire coast. St Mary’s Church, founded around 1110, stands on the East Cliff above the old town at the top of 199 steps. Bram Stoker set a scene from Dracula in its churchyard.

The view looks across the harbour from the quay, with lobster pots and a coil of rope in the foreground. Fishing boats lie moored below, their bows lettered with Whitby’s WY port letters. Behind them rise the stone houses and bay windows of the old town, and St Mary’s tower, flag flying, tops the cliff. Slates, stonework and rigging are drawn in fine pen, with pale washes of blue, ochre and rose.

Pen and ink with watercolour washes, the ropes and pots touched with gold. Initialled indistinctly lower right. Double-mounted in grey, in a reeded gilt frame.