Blackfriars, Wigtown
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The Church of the Friars Preachers of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Wigtown, commonly called Blackfriars, was a
mendicant A mendicant (from , "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, Mendicant orders, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many i ...
friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...
of the
Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...
founded in the 13th century at
Wigtown Wigtown ( (both used locally); ) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. It is known as "Scotl ...
,
Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. The ''Chronica Extracta'' said that it was founded by
Dervorguilla of Galloway Dervorguilla of Galloway (c. 1210 – 28 January 1290) was a "lady of substance" in 13th century Scotland, the wife from 1223 of John de Balliol and mother of John I, a future king of Scotland. Family Dervorguilla was one of the three daugh ...
, who died in 1290. Perhaps because of the remoteness of Wigtown, the history of the house is extremely badly documented and obscure. It appears on 7 March 1297, in receipt of money from the fermes of burghs. One of its priors, Ninian Shanks, appears on record on 10 May 1490. The prior along with four friars grant a charter on 21 December 1560, the year of the
Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...
. It was presumably disbanded in the following decade, its revenues probably being granted to the
burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...
, as was the case with other friaries of the time.


References

* Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., ''Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man'', Second Edition, (London, 1976) 11th-century establishments in Scotland 1560s disestablishments in Scotland Dominican houses in Scotland History of Galloway Religion in Dumfries and Galloway Christian religious orders established in the 13th century Wigtown Former Christian monasteries in Scotland {{Scotland-RC-church-stub