St Mary's Church, Whitby arch is a Jacobean pew. There is a monument to Sir Richard Cholmley who died in 1631. Two significant land slips due to broken drainage and torrential rain, the first occurring in November 2012, have placed the churchyard, and properties below the cliff, in significant jeopardy. Whitby town councillor Steve Smith stated the church was in no danger, having been built on solid rock. Human remains have fallen onto the street below, and pathways on the cliff-side of the church have been closed. Bram Stoker used St Mary's Church graveyard as the setting for a scene in his novel, "Dracula":
Dracula the Un-dead Dracula the Un-dead Dracula the Un-dead is a sequel to Bram Stoker's classic novel "Dracula". The book was written by Bram Stoker's great grand-nephew Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. Previously, Holt had been a direct-to-DVD horror screenwriter, and Stoker a track and field coach. In the novel's afterword, the authors discuss the many alterations made to the original novel's events, due to the many inconsistencies in the original and the desire for the Stoker family to reassert control over Dracula fiction. Twenty-five years have passed since the vampire Count Dracula met his end at the hands of Jonathan Harker and