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In the eighth century, Bede wrote of Whithorn as a shrine established
three centuries before his time: "an episcopal see, called
after S. Martin the bishop, and famous on account of the church
where he rests in body, along with many other saints. The place
belongs to the province of the Bernicians (Northumbrians) and is
commonly called The White House. It received this name because he
built the church there of stone, not a common practice among the
Britons".
Archaeologists have established that, in the fifth century, the
early Christian settlement at Whithorn had contacts with Gaul, a
sophisticated church hierarchy, and was importing fine wines and
pottery to a thriving and literate community, which was in touch
with a movement of Christian ideas and art coming from Europe and
beyond. As such, Whithorn is quite possibly Scotland's earliest
town. Later, in the middle ages, the burgh thrived as the shrine
was visited by Scottish kings and queens, from Robert the Bruce
to Mary Queen of Scots, and by thousands of pilgrims.
Our tradition of welcome is 1500 years old: come and experience
it!
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