THE
P RTAL
July 2018
Page 7
The once great Cathedral,
Monastery and Parish
Church at Whithorn
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane tell of their visit to Galloway
W
e made our way north to Galloway in South West Scotland. Most people in the UK know about Iona
and Saint Columba. Elsewhere in this edition of T he P ortal our colleague, Eliza Trebelcock, tells about her
visit to that iconic Island. But: we did not know about the much more ancient Christian history of Galloway.
Today, Galloway is remote from centres of power
and population. Stranraer maybe the port for the
ferry to Ireland, but which of us knows much about
the towns of Newton Stewart, Kirkcudbright or the
Scottish Wigtown? The rich history of the land to the
north of the Solway Firth was as unknown to us as we
suspect it might well be to you.
Not so 1,500 years ago, when the shrine of St Ninian
in Whithorn, at the heart of Galloway, was a major
centre of pilgrimage and had great influence in church
and state. If we go back to the early fifth century we
find small communities of Christians here. This pre-
dates Iona by 200 years.
It may be that St Ninian
was a local man who
travelled to Rome and
returned having been
ordained Bishop by the
Pope. He came to an
already existing Christian
community that had
survived the withdrawal of
the Roman Legions about
410AD.
Bede tells us that Ninian
converted the southern
Picts, who lived in what
is now Fife and Tayside.
He died peacefully at
Whithorn in 432AD, and
was buried in the church
he had built. His Feast
Day is 16 th September.
Historical records for this
period are scarce indeed,
but the archaeological
evidence is undoubted.
The Christian Community
in Whithorn was trading
in luxury goods from the
Mediterranean as well as
working the land.
St Ninian established
his See at Whithorn and
dedicated the church to St
Martin of Tours. Unusually
for the time, Ninian’s
church was built of stone
rather than timber. It
became known as Candida
Casa which is loosely
translated as White House.
Thus became Whithorn –
White or Bright House.
Replica of Ancient Cross
In an age without secure
(let
alone
metalled)
roads, the sea and rivers
provided
the
easiest
route for transport. This
quickly made Whithorn