Priory of Whithorn

Whithorn Priory was a medieval Scottish monastery that also served as a cathedral, located in Whithorn, Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway.

The priory was founded about the middle of the 12th century by Fergus, the Lord of Galloway, (died 1161) during the reign of King David I of Scotland (died 1153), for a community of Premonstratensian canons regular, referred to colloquially in Britain as the White Canons.

The canons of Whithorn formed the cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Galloway, which was re-established about the same time, also by Fergus, the old succession of bishops having died out in the 8th or 9th centuries. The prior stood next in rank to the bishop, as can be seen from the order of signatories to an episcopal charter early in the 13th century; and the community enjoyed the right of electing the bishop, although this right was occasionally overruled in favour of the secular clergy by the Archbishop of York, of which see Galloway was a suffragan see for several centuries.

The full list of priors has not been preserved; among them were: Maurice, who swore fealty to King Edward I of England in 1296; Gavin Dunbar (1514), who rose to be Archbishop of Glasgow; and James Beaton, successively Archbishop of Glasgow and of St. Andrews, and chancellor of the kingdom. Whithorn was long a noted place of pilgrimage, owing to its connection with the venerated memory of Saint Ninian.

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