Whitekirk, St. Mary's Church

As we continued back from North Berwick, we stopped at Whitekirk, no doubt named after the appearance of this small medieval church. While the original structure on this site dates to the 12th century, construction on the current structure began in 1439.

The reason a church was placed just here in the obscure community is that there was a well nearby to which miracles were attributed. While efforts have been made to find it, so far luck.

This well was attributed to St. Baldred. It became quite famous starting in the 1300's for the miracles it supposedly produced.

By 1413,

there were some fifteen thousand visitors to the village, and King James I placed the church under his protection, building hostels to shelter the growing number of pilgrims. Among them was the future Pope Pius II, who walked there barefoot through snow from Dunbar to give thanks for having been spared a shipwreck there in 1435.

So this place does have a place in history. Once again, however, it was locked and we could not enter to show you the restored insides. It was destroyed in a fire in 1914 and reconstruction began in 1917.

Today it is a parish church of the Church of Scotland. Henry VIII had an effect on nearly every corner of the UK.