Lastingham is in an unusual position. It lies at the bottom of the escarpment that forms the northern edge of the Tabular Hills, with the high moors gently sloping away to the north.
The village has a monastic history. In 655 St. Cedd left Lindisfarne and established a monastary at Lastingham. St.Cedd moved on to convert the East Saxons and was replaced by his brother St. Chad, who also moved on, in his case to Lichfield, where the cathedral still bears his name. This first abbey was sacked by the vikings in the ninth century.
Lastingham's best known feature is St. Mary's Church. The current church was originally planned as part of a much larger monastic community, founded in 1078 by monks from the recently refounded Whitby Abbey, but was abandoned after a decade when the monks moved on to St. Mary's Abbey in York. Most of their plans for Lastingham were not carried out, but not before they build a crypt for the bones of St. Cedd with the abbot's chancel above. This small church was adopted by the village after the monks left. The crypt has survived almost unaltered in the last nine hundred years.
Lastingham is on Ordnance Survey Explorer Map OL26 (North Yorks Moors Western Area)