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All the United Kingdom England Whitby 199 Steps Coffin Benches

199 Steps Coffin Benches

These planks were originally installed to hold the dead.

Whitby, England

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SEANETTA ALLSASS
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Coffin bench.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Sign.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Warning sign.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Coffin bench and stairs.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Coffin bench.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Slap bench to carry deceased   dwnmjr / Atlas Obscura User
Looking upwards on 199 Steps   dwnmjr / Atlas Obscura User
  JR Wetmore / Atlas Obscura User
View from the steps.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
The stairs.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Coffin bench.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
The stairs.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Thousands of people climb up the 199 steps leading to St. Mary’s Church. Fortunately for these visitors, benches dot the stairway, providing perfect places for weary walkers to rest their legs and soak in the picture-perfect views of Whitby’s harbor.

What many tourists don’t realize is that the platforms they sit on weren’t intended to hold the living. Pallbearers, when they needed a break while carting the dead to the church cemetery, would place coffins on the planks.

The graveyard closed after the 19th century, meaning the bereaved no longer had to carry their loved ones up the many steps. But the stairs still see plenty of foot traffic, just as they have for centuries.

The first recorded use of the staircase was in 1340, though it’s likely they were used far before this as people trekked up to the 12th-century church and seventh-century abbey. Even Count Dracula, in wolf form, bounded up these stairs as depicted by Bram Stoker in his novel Dracula.

Related Tags

Stairs Death Rites And Rituals Funeral Cemeteries

Know Before You Go

The steps and benches are accessible 24/7, though there is a sign warning walkers that they climb the stairs at their own risk. There is a parking lot located at the top for those who choose not traverse the staircase.

Community Contributors

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SEANETTA

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Collector of Experiences, JR Wetmore, dwnmjr, sheilamoney

  • Collector of Experiences
  • JR Wetmore
  • dwnmjr
  • sheilamoney

Published

May 10, 2019

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Sources
  • https://whitbyuncovered.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/199-steps/
  • https://graveyardjunkies.wordpress.com/2017/12/10/st-marys-churchyard-whitby-yorkshire-uk/
  • https://cemeterytravel.com/2016/06/10/deaths-garden-whitby/
199 Steps Coffin Benches
199 Steps
Whitby, England
United Kingdom
54.488996, -0.611682
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