Whitekirk (East Lothian)
Encyclopedia
Tyninghame and Whitekirk is a civil parish
, centred on two small settlements in East Lothian
, Scotland
.
, 8 mi (12.9 km) from Dunbar
and 25 mi (40.2 km) east of Edinburgh
. A place of Christian worship from the earliest times and known in , having a holy well
, now lost, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin
, and a famous statue, likewise dedicated and known as Our Lady of Haddington. It was on the pilgrim
's route from St Andrews
to Santiago de Compostela
and described as a stopping point in the Iter pro peregrinis ad Compostellam., Book V of the Codex Calixtinus
.
The shrine of Our Lady at Whitekirk was desecrated by the armies of Edward III of England
in 1356, a period that would become known as the Burnt Candlemas
. Later in the 14th century, the shrine of our lady was reconsecrated at the newly built Church of St. Mary the Virgin
in Haddington
. Whitekirk continued to be a place of pilgrimage, however, receiving visits from the future Pope Pius II
and Kings James IV
and James V
.
In early 1435, Aeneas Piccolomini
(Pope Pius II) was travelling to Scotland on a diplomatic mission as Papal legate
, when his ship was beset by storms. After giving prayers to Our Lady, the ship and its crew made port safely at Dunbar, and having promised to walk barefoot to the nearest shrine
to the virgin, Piccolomini set out for Whitekirk. The eight miles through the frozen countryside left him with rheumatism
that he would complain about for the rest of his life.
The Covenanting
preacher John Blackadder gave his last conventicle
on the hill behind the Church in 1678.
The Holy Well dried up in the 19th Century following agricultural drainage, but is thought to be located not far from the church building.
The current Church was last restored in 2005-6. Dramatic events in 1914 saw the Church set on fire, allegedly by Suffragette
campaigners, although this has not been proven. The Kirk was restored by the office of Sir Robert Lorimer
.
Whitekirk derives its name from the original colour of the Kirk: White, and was once known as 'Hamer' or the greater Ham. The Church is now the red of its underlying sandstone.
pilgrimage
that starts at Whitekirk and finishes in Haddington. Originally started by the Patrick Maitland
the 17th Earl of Lauderdale
, the numbers attending rose from 30 people in the early seventies to over 2000; however, in 2008 the pilgrimage was cancelled due to lack of numbers.
, and means Hamlet on the Tyne
. The original church at Tyninghame was founded by Saint Baldred
an Anchorite
described as the "Apostle of the Lothians". In 941 AD, the church and village of Tyninghame was destroyed by Anlaf the Dane.
The oldest extant records give the superiors of the lands of Tyninghame as the Archdiocese of Saint Andrews
, doubtless because of its connexions with Saint Baldred. From at least the end of the 11th century the lands were occupied by the Lauder of The Bass family, and in 1628 passed to the Earl of Haddington
. In June 1617 the Lauders are recorded as being the patrons of the church there, and the Session Book records that they provided for the new sacramental vessels for communion that year: "Suma of money to be payit be the Ladie Bass, six scor pundis, ane pund, five s." Relations between The Church and the local patrons were not always good and it is recorded on February 4, 1621, that a fine was paid: "Given be the Ladie Bass for penaltie of her servand quha brak ye Sabbothe, 18s".
In 1761 the Earl of Haddington moved Tyninghame village from its original position, to the west of the policies of Tyninghame House to make way for landscaped
parkland.
, a category A listed building, is located to the east of the village by the estuary of the River Tyne
. It lies adjacent to the site of the original village, and within the gardens can be seen the remains of St. Baldred's church. There was a manor at Tyninghame in 1094, and it was later a property of the Lauder of The Bass family. In the 17th century it was sold to the Earl of Haddington
. The present building dates from 1829 when the 9th Earl of Haddington
employed William Burn
to greatly enlarge the house in the Baronial style. In 1987 the contents of the house were sold, and the house was divided into flats.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
, centred on two small settlements in East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Whitekirk
Whitekirk is 4 mi (6.4 km) from North BerwickNorth Berwick
The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...
, 8 mi (12.9 km) from Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
and 25 mi (40.2 km) east of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. A place of Christian worship from the earliest times and known in , having a holy well
Holy well
A holy well, or sacred spring, is a small body of water emerging from underground and revered either in a Pagan or Christian context, often both. Holy wells were frequently pagan sacred sites that later became Christianized. The term 'holy well' is commonly employed to refer to any water source of...
, now lost, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
, and a famous statue, likewise dedicated and known as Our Lady of Haddington. It was on the pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
's route from St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
to Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
and described as a stopping point in the Iter pro peregrinis ad Compostellam., Book V of the Codex Calixtinus
Codex Calixtinus
The Codex Calixtinus is a 12th-century illuminated manuscript formerly attributed to Pope Callixtus II, though now believed to have been arranged by the French scholar Aymeric Picaud. The principal author is actually given as 'Scriptor I'....
.
The shrine of Our Lady at Whitekirk was desecrated by the armies of Edward III of England
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
in 1356, a period that would become known as the Burnt Candlemas
Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which falls on 2 February, celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Eastern Catholic Churches, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante...
. Later in the 14th century, the shrine of our lady was reconsecrated at the newly built Church of St. Mary the Virgin
St. Mary's Collegiate Church
The Collegiate Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Church of Scotland parish church in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland.Building work on the church was started in 1380, and further building and rebuilding has taken place up to the present day...
in Haddington
Haddington, East Lothian
The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which was known officially as Haddingtonshire before 1921. It lies about east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the 6th...
. Whitekirk continued to be a place of pilgrimage, however, receiving visits from the future Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini was Pope from August 19, 1458 until his death in 1464. Pius II was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but decayed family...
and Kings James IV
James IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
and James V
James V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...
.
In early 1435, Aeneas Piccolomini
Piccolomini
Piccolomini is the name of an Italian noble family, which was prominent in Siena from the beginning of the 13th century onwards. In 1220, Engelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini received the fief of Montertari in Val d'Orcia from the emperor Frederick II as a reward for services rendered...
(Pope Pius II) was travelling to Scotland on a diplomatic mission as Papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
, when his ship was beset by storms. After giving prayers to Our Lady, the ship and its crew made port safely at Dunbar, and having promised to walk barefoot to the nearest shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
to the virgin, Piccolomini set out for Whitekirk. The eight miles through the frozen countryside left him with rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
that he would complain about for the rest of his life.
The Covenanting
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
preacher John Blackadder gave his last conventicle
Conventicle
A conventicle is a small, unofficial and unofficiated meeting of laypeople, to discuss religious issues in a non-threatening, intimate manner. Philipp Jakob Spener called for such associations in his Pia Desideria, and they were the foundation of the German Evangelical Lutheran Pietist movement...
on the hill behind the Church in 1678.
The Holy Well dried up in the 19th Century following agricultural drainage, but is thought to be located not far from the church building.
The current Church was last restored in 2005-6. Dramatic events in 1914 saw the Church set on fire, allegedly by Suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
campaigners, although this has not been proven. The Kirk was restored by the office of Sir Robert Lorimer
Robert Lorimer
Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer was a prolific Scottish architect noted for his restoration work on historic houses and castles, and for promotion of the Arts and Crafts style.-Early life:...
.
Whitekirk derives its name from the original colour of the Kirk: White, and was once known as 'Hamer' or the greater Ham. The Church is now the red of its underlying sandstone.
Whitekirk Pilgrimage
On the 2nd Saturday of May, every year since 1971, there is an ecumenicalEcumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
that starts at Whitekirk and finishes in Haddington. Originally started by the Patrick Maitland
Patrick Maitland, 17th Earl of Lauderdale
Patrick Francis Maitland, 17th Earl of Lauderdale FRGS , styled Hon. Patrick Maitland from 1953 to 1968, was a British Conservative politician.-Early life:...
the 17th Earl of Lauderdale
Earl of Lauderdale
Earl of Lauderdale is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1624 for John Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, Berwickshire. The second Earl was created Duke of Lauderdale but died without male issue when the dukedom became extinct. The earldom passed to his brother Charles,...
, the numbers attending rose from 30 people in the early seventies to over 2000; however, in 2008 the pilgrimage was cancelled due to lack of numbers.
Tyninghame
Tyninghame is an ancient parish that was joined to Whitekirk in 1761. The name is NorthumbrianNorthumbrian (Anglo-Saxon)
Northumbrian was a dialect of the Old English language spoken in the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria. Together with Mercian, Kentish and West Saxon, it forms one of the sub-categories of Old English devised and employed by modern scholars....
, and means Hamlet on the Tyne
River Tyne, Scotland
The River Tyne is a river in Scotland, UK. It rises in the Moorfoot Hills in Midlothian near Tynehead to the south of Edinburgh, at the junction of the B6458 and the B6367. It continues for approx...
. The original church at Tyninghame was founded by Saint Baldred
Baldred of Tyninghame
Balthere of Tyninghame was a Northumbrian hermit and abbot, resident in East Lothian during the 8th century.-Dating:According to Hovendeus the date of Baldred's death is given as 756. Symeon of Durham says "the twentieth year of King Eadberht of Northumbria " and Turgot of Durham "the...
an Anchorite
Anchorite
Anchorite denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life...
described as the "Apostle of the Lothians". In 941 AD, the church and village of Tyninghame was destroyed by Anlaf the Dane.
The oldest extant records give the superiors of the lands of Tyninghame as the Archdiocese of Saint Andrews
Archbishop of St Andrews
The Bishop of St. Andrews was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews and then, as Archbishop of St Andrews , the Archdiocese of St Andrews.The name St Andrews is not the town or church's original name...
, doubtless because of its connexions with Saint Baldred. From at least the end of the 11th century the lands were occupied by the Lauder of The Bass family, and in 1628 passed to the Earl of Haddington
Earl of Haddington
Earl of Haddington is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1627 for the noted Scottish lawyer and judge Thomas Hamilton, 1st Earl of Melrose. He was Lord President of the Court of Session from 1616 to 1625...
. In June 1617 the Lauders are recorded as being the patrons of the church there, and the Session Book records that they provided for the new sacramental vessels for communion that year: "Suma of money to be payit be the Ladie Bass, six scor pundis, ane pund, five s." Relations between The Church and the local patrons were not always good and it is recorded on February 4, 1621, that a fine was paid: "Given be the Ladie Bass for penaltie of her servand quha brak ye Sabbothe, 18s".
In 1761 the Earl of Haddington moved Tyninghame village from its original position, to the west of the policies of Tyninghame House to make way for landscaped
Landscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
parkland.
Tyninghame House
Tyninghame HouseTyninghame House
Tyninghame House is a mansion in East Lothian, Scotland. It is located by the mouth of the River Tyne, east of Tyninghame and west of Dunbar. There was a manor at Tyninghame in 1094, and it was later a property of the Lauder of The Bass family. In the 17th century it was sold to the Earl of...
, a category A listed building, is located to the east of the village by the estuary of the River Tyne
River Tyne, Scotland
The River Tyne is a river in Scotland, UK. It rises in the Moorfoot Hills in Midlothian near Tynehead to the south of Edinburgh, at the junction of the B6458 and the B6367. It continues for approx...
. It lies adjacent to the site of the original village, and within the gardens can be seen the remains of St. Baldred's church. There was a manor at Tyninghame in 1094, and it was later a property of the Lauder of The Bass family. In the 17th century it was sold to the Earl of Haddington
Thomas Hamilton, 1st Earl of Haddington
Thomas Hamilton, 1st Earl of Haddington , designated before his peerage as 'of Drumcarny, Monkland, and Binning', was a Scottish administrator, Lord Advocate, judge, and Lord Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire.-Family:...
. The present building dates from 1829 when the 9th Earl of Haddington
Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington
Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington KT PC FRS , known as Lord Binning from 1794 to 1828, was a British Conservative politician and statesman.-Background and education:...
employed William Burn
William Burn
William Burn was a Scottish architect, pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style.He was born in Edinburgh, the son of architect Robert Burn, and educated at the Royal High School. After training with the architect of the British Museum, Sir Robert Smirke, he returned to Edinburgh in 1812...
to greatly enlarge the house in the Baronial style. In 1987 the contents of the house were sold, and the house was divided into flats.
External links
- http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_gis?inumlink=56697 Details of Our Lady's Well, Whitekirk-now lost
- http://www.haddingtoncc.org.uk/whitek.htm Whitekirk Pilgrimage.