Whithorn, is a royal burgh (town) in Dumfries and Galloway region, in the historic county of Wigtownshire, southwestern Scotland. It lies on the peninsula between Luce and Wigtown bays. It is one of the oldest Christian centres in Britain, it was founded about AD 397 by St. Ninian, who built a small whitewashed stone church—hence Whithorn, or “White House,” from the Anglo-Saxon “Huitaern”—on the site of which a monastery was built about 1130. St. Ninian’s shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage until the Protestant Reformation. Robert I (the Bruce) visited it in 1329, James IV was a regular visitor, and Mary, Queen of Scots, made the last royal pilgrimage there, in 1567.
Whithorn Priory: The priory built in the 1100s for Premonstratensian monks later became the Cathedral church of Galloway. Little of the priory survives today, but you can still follow the route taken by medieval pilgrims to visit St Ninian’s shrine at the east end of the church.
How to get there from The Old Smiddy: 2.4 miles (4.0 mins) via A747 & A746. What3words: presenter.breezy.outfit
