An Alternative Naming of Whitby
This is the alternative view of how Whitby may have got its name including some pre-history ideas, have a look here for "The more Accademic Naming of Whitby"
I'm writing this at moment, it will be published shortly.
(note: The potential for the existance of a Roman signal station at Whitby is explored in "T. W. Bell (1998) A Roman Signal Station at Whitby, Archaeological Journal, 155:1, 303-322,". )