Whithorn Priory was a medieval Scottish monastery that also served as a cathedral, located at 6 Bruce Street in Whithorn, Wigtownshire,

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

(54.7357N, 4.415954W; OS grid reference NX445405).

History

The priory was founded about the middle of the 12th century by Fergus, the Lord of Galloway, (died 1161) during the reign of King David I of Scotland (died 1153), initially for a community of Augustinian Canons Regular. Around 1175, the monks were replaced by

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

canons regular, referred to colloquially in Britain as the White Canons.Hunter-Blair, Oswald. "Whithorn Priory." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 21 January 2019] Sometime before 1161, the Premonstratensians had been established at Soulseat Abbey. The canons of Whithorn formed the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of the Diocese of Galloway, which was re-established about the same time, also by Fergus, the old succession of bishops having died out in the 8th or 9th centuries. The

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

stood next in rank to the bishop, as can be seen from the order of signatories to an episcopal charter early in the 13th century; and the community enjoyed the right of electing the bishop, although this right was occasionally overruled in favour of the

secular clergy In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...

by the Archbishop of York, of which see Galloway was a suffragan see for several centuries. The full list of priors has not been preserved; among them were: Maurice, who swore fealty to King Edward I of England in 1296; Gavin Dunbar (1514), who rose to be Archbishop of Glasgow; and James Beaton, successively Archbishop of Glasgow and of

St. Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

, and chancellor of the kingdom. Whithorn was long a noted place of pilgrimage, owing to its connection with the venerated memory of Saint Ninian. Many Scottish sovereigns, among them Margaret (queen of James III),

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

, and

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...

, made repeated pilgrimages to the

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

's shrine, and left rich offerings behind them. The monastery, thus endowed, became opulent, and its income at its dissolution under the Scottish Reformation was estimated at over £1000. Possibly as a result, the priory was put under the rule of a commendatory prior in 1516. The last Catholic prior, Malcolm Fleming (d. 1568), was committed to prison in 1563 for the crime of saying Mass. The whole property of the priory was vested in the Crown by the annexation act of 1587, and was granted in 1606 by King James VI to the occupant of the See of Galloway when he established

Episcopalianism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

in Scotland in that same year.

Dissolution

The monastery lands continued to belong to the bishopric until the Revolution of 1688, at which date that see was the richest in the kingdom next to St. Andrews and Glasgow. The priory church, which served also as the cathedral of the diocese, had a long nave without aisles, a choir of about the same length, and a lady chapel beyond. Thomas Sydserf, Bishop of Galloway 1635–8, undertook an ambitious remodelling of the nave. In 1684 the nave and western tower were still intact; but the existing remains consist only of the roofless nave and the extensive vaulted crypts constructed under the eastern end of the church. Such restoration as was possible has been carefully carried out by the third

Marquis of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart was the member of a family that ...

. The complex is now a scheduled monument.

Excavation

The cathedral was subject to a major excavation and restoration in 1886/7 by William Galloway at the expense of

John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, (12 September 1847 – 9 October 1900) was a landed aristocracy, aristocrat, industrial magnate, antiquarian, scholar, philanthropist, and architectural patron. Succeeding to the Marquess of ...

Burials

Walter of Whithorn Walter (died 1235) was Chamberlain of Alan, Lord of Galloway and later Bishop of Galloway. As Alan's chamberlain, he succeeded Bishop John after the latter's death, in 1209. His election coincided with the northern expedition of King John of Engl ...

Henry of Holyrood Henry (died 1293) was a 13th-century Augustinian abbot and bishop, most notable for holding the positions of Abbot of Holyrood and Bishop of Galloway. It is not known when Henry became an Augustinian nor when he became Abbot of Holyrood Abbey. ...

* Simon de Wedale * Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus (heart buried at Douglas, South Lanarkshire)

Gallery

Image:St. Ninian's Priory, from Bruce Street, Whitehorn..jpg, St. Ninian's Priory from Bruce Street Image:Stninianschapel.jpg, Saint Ninian's Chapel

References

External links

Archaeological and Historical Collections relating to Ayrshire and Galloway
(1894), vol.VII. pp. 53–55 {{Subject bar , portal1= Catholicism , portal2= Scotland Medieval cathedrals in Scotland History of Galloway Premonstratensian monasteries in Scotland Former cathedrals in Scotland Historic Environment Scotland properties Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Monasteries dissolved under the Scottish Reformation Historic Scotland properties in Dumfries and Galloway Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Dumfries and Galloway Former Christian monasteries in Scotland Whithorn Burial sites of the House of Douglas and Angus