Publication Account
Date 1986
Event ID 1017462
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017462
Although the history of Christianity in Scotland probably began at Whithorn, the visitor to this unassuming town may not at fIrst sense an atmosphere of spiritual antiquity, nor will he fmd the meaning of the ecclesiastical remains themselves immediately self-evident There are three main visible objectives: the Museum at the corner of Bruce Street houses the important carved stories; within the churchyard there are the remains of the medieval cathedral-priory, the most prominent portion being the nave which was altered for post-Reformation use; and beyond that, the present parish church built in 1822 on the site of the east range of the medieval cloister.
These are disparate elements in a long and complicated story, and there are still considerable gaps in our knowledge, especially of its earliest phases. Despite the attentions of generations of archaeologists, Whithorn still retams the quiet lure of a place whose rich seams of archaeological potential have not yet been worked out
It was here that St Ninian, or Nynia, made his headquarters as bishop and missionary some time in the early 5th century, the first to be associated with the stone church or cathedral which, according to Bede, was known as the White House (Ad Canaida Casa) and was dedicated to St Martin of Tours (d. 397). However, Christianity at Whithorn, and perhaps other pockets in the South West, was older than Ninian; how much older is not known, but his appointment was probably in response to an organised local community.
The actual location of the white-plastered (?and lime-mortared) Canaida Casa, the first recorded church-building in Scotland, has long been a matter of debate. Unsubstantiated claims have been made in favour of Isle of Whithorn (no. 69); the current favourite, although it may equally belong to the 7th century, is the small building, now defmed by modem dwarfwalls, at the eastern end of the crypt of the medieval cathedral-priory. When first uncovered, the roughly built walls were coated externally with a cream coloured plaster. Excavations carried out in this vicinity are reported to have reached the earliest Christian levels; the only tangible evidence of the Ninianic period on public display, the inscribed pillar stone known as the Latinus stone, was also found in this general area in 1891. Ascribed to the mid 5th century by reason of the form and formula of the wording, it is the earliest Christian memorial in Scotland.
Little is known about the size and character of the monastery, which succeeded or formed part of the Ninianic church. We can be reasonably certain, however, that the pillar stone known as the Petrus stone belongs to a Celtic monastic phase in the 7th century. It stood at the roadside about 400m south of Whithorn, presumably within the monastic precinct It bears an incised curvilinear cross with chirho symbol set within a double circle; the Latin inscription, cut in a rare form ofMerovingian lettering reads 'The place of Peter the apostle'. '
Shortly before AD 731, the monastery was reconstituted as the centre of an Anglian bishopric, following the establishment of Northumbrian control in Galloway and, according to Bede, 'through increase of the ranks of the faithful'. There was a known succession of bishops throughout the 8th century, but thereafter the records fall silent until 1128. Our main body of historical evidence for the intervening centuries is in fact the group of carved stones in the museum. There are at least five, three cross-fragments and two slabs, which appear to belong exclusively to Northumbrian sculptural traditions of the 8th and 9th centuries. The rest are of a distinctive Whithom 'school' of monuments, and belong to a period of Viking or Anglo-Norse control and settlement in the Machars from the early 10th century onwards.
Of the Whithom school, about twenty crosses would have served as headstones for individual graves, the majority having come from Whithorn. Only one survives complete, and only one bears a decipherable inscription (in runes): 'The monument [or cross] of Donferth'. The taller crosses are mainly from the surrounding district, marking religious centres and showing a respect on the part of Norse incomers for Christian places of burial. The most complete of these cemetery crosses is the 10th century Monreith Cross which stands 2.3m high. Stylistically, the disc-headed form of the crosses is partly derived from the engraved circled cross lorig known in Galloway, while the patterns of interlace, the principal surface ornament, are Norse modifIcations of Northumbrian art. The cross-head typical of the Whithorn school has an embossed centrepiece and expanded curved arms with circular sunk 'armpits', sometimes also bossed in false relief.
The bishopric was revived in 1128, possibly at the instance of Fergus, Lord of Galloway, but the status of the community which served the restored see for the first fIfty years is not clear. We do know, however, that a church of Romanesque style was erected in about the middle of the 12th century; its most unmistakeable feature is the ornamented south doorway at the west end of the nave where it was repositioned possibly in later medieval times. This Romanesque church was of cruciform plan with a short aisleless nave and an eastern arm of unknown extent, presumed long and aisled. There are contemporary fragments in the museum.
Whithorn's institutional history becomes clearer upon the introduction in about 1175-7 of Premonstratensian canons. By about 1235 the convent consisted of a prior and twenty canons, but numbers subsequently fluctuated, rising to about 25 in the early 16th century and down to about 16 in 1560. The architecture of the cathedral-priory is represented by 13th century and later work in the nave and crypt at the east end. This church was rebuilt over and around its predecessor, incorporating some older details. The other south-facing doorway and most of the windows and tombrecesses in the nave belong to this period; the relatively blank north side-wall flanked the cloister-garth. The present parish church occupies the northern end of the east range of the conventual buildings.
A special feature of the layout is the two-level arrangement at the east end. The eastern outline of the elaborate aisled choir is marked by modem walls, but the vaulted chambers of the crypt are intact and accessible. This two-storeyed treatment was dictated by the fall in ground level and by the need to provide space for St Ninian's shrine. The shrine attracted a considerable and lucrative pilgrimage traffic throughout the Middle Ages, probably second to none in Scotland. The last of the royal pilgrims was Queen Mary in 1563; by 1581 pilgrimages were formally prohibited.
At the Reformation the bishop and most of the canons, but not the prior, espoused the cause of the reformers. Until the fmal re-establishment of Presbyterianism in 1690 there was thus a succession of bishops, except in 1588-1605 and 1638-61. The revenues of the priory became reunited with the bishopric in 1605, and shortly afterwards the nave of the former cathedral priory was repaired and rebuilt to suit the reformed liturgy. It served as a cathedral as long as Episcopacy prevailed, and from 1690 until 1822 its status was a parish church. The most substantial work undertaken in this period, probably early in the 18th century, was the remodelling and foreshortening of the west end following the collapse of the western tower. The frontal tower on the present parish church is an addition to the internally refurnished block of 1822.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway’, (1986).
