Whitekirk Parish Church

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Whitekirk Parish Church
Church cemetery

The Whitekirk Parish Church , also St Mary's Church , is a church building of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland in the Scottish village of Whitekirk in the East Lothian Council Area . In 1971 the building was included in the Scottish Monuments List in the highest category A.

history

A church has been on the site since the 12th century at the latest. It was a simple St. Mary's Church that served as a parish church. After miraculous healings were reported around the year 1300 after consuming the water of the nearby Marienbrunnen, the church gained greater importance. After 15,653 pilgrims were counted in 1413, the Scottish King James I put the church under his personal protection. He also had dwellings built for the pilgrims, the foundations of which can be found in the vicinity of the later Whitekirk tithe barn . The future Pope Pius II walked barefoot from Dunbar to Whitekirk to thank the church for his sparing in a storm on the Firth of Forth .

In the course of the 15th century, today's church was built on the same site. Work began in 1439 with the construction of the choir . The capacity of the church is significantly oversized for the small parish, but it should also be able to accommodate the numerous pilgrims. King James IV regularly attended the Church in Whitekirk. His son Jacob V placed them under the care of the Sinclair clan . With the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, the importance of the church declined. From then on it served as a parish church again . As a result of measures for field drainage in the area, the nearby healing well dried up in the 19th century. In 1914 the church caught fire. Robert Lorimer was entrusted with the restoration . Damaged leaded glass windows were replaced in 1916.

description

The church is on the A198 on the eastern edge of Whitekirk. The masonry of the late Gothic building consists of red sandstone . The square crossing tower dominates the character. It closes with a slate-covered pyramid roof with a wrought-iron weathercock. Pointed arch windows and tracery are arranged along the facade . The pointed arched , two-winged entrance portal on the south side is simply suspected . Various gable surfaces are worked as a stepped gable .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ a b Entry on Whitekirk Parish Church  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  3. ↑ a b Entry in the Gazetteer for Scotland

Web links

Commons : Whitekirk Parish Church  - collection of images

Coordinates: 56 ° 1 ′ 29.9 "  N , 2 ° 38 ′ 57.6"  W.