Founded in 657 by St Hilda, known via the writings of Bede the Venerable, this mixed monastery is supposedly built on the site of a Roman lookout post. In this abbey, the Whitby Synod of 664 took place, which adopted the Roman method of dating Easter, rather than the Celtic method. Here too is where the poet Caedmon "sang of the creation of the world"; according to Bede, he was the first poet to sing in the vernacular.