Whitekirk was originally a mid 16th century stone tower house and courtyard fortress, founded by Oliver Sinclair. The nearby St Mary's Church and healing well was a place of pilgrimage in the later medieval period and in the early 15th century, King James I established stone rectilinear pilgrim cottages to the north. Standing on a rocky prominence and incorporating material from the Pilgrims' cottages, during the English 'Rough Wooing' invasion the square tower was burnt in 1544 and 1548, by troops under the Earl of Hereford and Lord Grey of Wilton. In the 17th century, the Bairds of Newbyth extended the tower to make a rectangular three storey tithe barn, with crow-stepped gables, which has been restored and converted into a residential house. At the western end are the remains of the tower with a doorway over a barrel-vaulted basement, an arrow slit in the gable and a garderobe in the north wall. 2 miles north is Auldhame and 7 miles south-east is Dunbar Castle.