St Ninian's Proprietary Chapel

When I was walking through Whitby with Jan, I noticed that St Ninian's Proprietary Chapel was open. It isn't usually, so I took the opportunity to have a look around.

A proprietary chapel is one that was built and paid for by a group of people rather than the Church of England. There are believed to be only four of them remaining in the country. St Ninian's Proprietary Chapel is the only one in Yorkshire.

It was built by 30 of Whitby's shipbuilders at the time of Captain James Cook's voyages. It is one of very few churches in England dedicated to St. Ninian, who is acknowledged as Scotland's first Christian saint. He was born in Scotland around 360AD and studied in Rome, where he was ordained a bishop. He returned to Scotland in about 397AD and established a monastery at Withorn in Galloway. This became a renowned centre of learning. Ninian died there in 432AD. Today, Whithorn is the site of the Shrine of St Ninian.

St Ninian's Chapel was completed in 1778. It continued within the Church of England until the Archbishop of York removed its licence in 1998. Since then, although it has continued to be used as a religious building, it hasn't been licensed by any particular religion.

When we got home, we were rewarded with a lovely sunset 🌇 😊.Read more