23/06/2026
Local Legend: St Hilda and Whitby’s Snakestones 🐍
Whitby’s dramatic cliffs are home to one of the town’s most fascinating legends: the story of St Hilda and the snakestones.
According to local folklore, St Hilda arrived in Whitby, then known as Streoneshalh, in the year 657 with plans to establish an abbey on the clifftops above the town. But when she reached the site, she found the land overrun with snakes.
After attempts to clear the ground failed, legend says St Hilda prayed for the land to be purified. When her prayers seemed unanswered, she took up a whip and, with divine force, drove the snakes over the cliffs. As they fell, they curled up and turned to stone.
Today, we know these “snakestones” as ammonites, ancient fossils that can still be found along the beaches beneath Whitby’s cliffs. For centuries, they’ve been linked to St Hilda’s story, adding a little extra magic to every fossil hunt on the Yorkshire Coast.
St Hilda went on to found Whitby Abbey, becoming one of the most influential religious figures of her time. Her legacy still lingers in the ruins above the town, and perhaps in the fossils hidden below.
