More to North Yorkshire: A Literary Trail
A novel way to explore the county
- Stories & Inspiration
- More To North Yorkshire Literary Trail
Do you know that North Yorkshire has many connections to literature
The county has inspired the landscape, characters and storylines of many well-known historic novels as well as providing a home for many famous writers over the years.
James Herriot - All Creatures Great and Small
Alf Wight, the vet who practiced from his surgery in Thirsk is perhaps more well-known as the author of All Creatures Great and Small and the creator of James Herriot.
The Yorkshire Dales countryside, market towns and farms have provided the backdrop for his tales of being a vet in the 1930s.
Bram Stoker - Dracula
For a more Gothic literary twist, head to Whitby on the Yorkshire coast. The imposing abbey and church on the headland, the 199 steps leading up to the church and the harbour all inspired Dracula author Bram Stoker when he stayed in the town in 1890.
If you have read the novel, you can easily recognise Whitby in the story. There is still a fascination today, so much so that the Whitby Goth Weekend is held twice a year in the town.
If you are visiting the town then taking the Whitby Dracula Trail and following in Bram Stoker’s footsteps is a must.
The inaugural Whitby Literature Festival is taking place from 6th to 9th November 2025 celebrating Whitby’s literary heritage alongside authors and their works, some inspired by the town.
Agatha Christie's Disappearance
Crime novelist Agatha Christie created a mystery of her own when she disappeared in 1926. She was found 11 days later staying at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate.
Then known as the Swan Hydropathic Hotel, Agatha had checked in under an assumed name and quite possibly made use of the spas and treatments of the town before eventually being recognised.
Her spirit lives on in the town today with the annual Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival held in July every year at the same hotel. The popular festival attracts some big names in crime writing as well as fans from around the world.
Anne Bronte
The Bronte sisters lived in Haworth in West Yorkshire, but Anne Bronte frequently visited the seaside town of Scarborough in the 1840s, sometimes accompanied by her sister Charlotte.
Anne would take the spa waters when she visited and returned in 1849 for the final time. Anne is buried in St Mary’s Churchyard in Scarborough and the towns’ landmarks are clearly featured in her novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
If you are visiting Boroughbridge you can follow the nearby Bronte Trail taking in the places near to where Anne and her brother, Branwell, lived for five years in the 1840s.
Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll lived in Ripon in the 1850s when his father was the canon at Ripon Cathedral.
The carvings on the choir misericords such as a griffin chasing a rabbit as well as the crypt tunnel are said to have inspired the storylines in Alice in Wonderland.
Lewis Carroll also stayed in Whitby several times and had his first published poem printed in the Whitby Gazette.
Another of Ripon’s literary connections is the First World War poet Wilfrid Owen who lived on Borrage Lane in the city in 1918 while based at the army camp. Wilfrid wrote during this time including the poem ‘The Send-Off'.
The author and playwright Alan Bennett has a cottage in the Yorkshire Dales and has talked about his observations of ladies lunching at the Crown Hotel in Harrogate.
Enjoy your next visit to North Yorkshire where you can walk in the footsteps of famous novelists and poets and create your own story.
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