Duddingston Kirk is a Parish Church in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

, located adjacent to Holyrood Park in Duddingston Village, on the east side of the City of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Regular services are held at the kirk.

History

Cassel identifies the building as being Anglo-Saxon (i.e. pre Norman conquest). The church was built in or around 1124 by Dodin, a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

knight, on land granted to

Kelso Abbey Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbeys, Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scottish Borders, Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the reign of Alexander ...

by King

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...

. As originally built, the kirk consisted of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and square

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. The traditional pattern of an east–west axis was adopted. The original entrance on the south wall includes a particularly fine example of

Scoto-Norman The term Scoto-Norman (also Franco-Scottish or Franco-Gaelic) is used to describe people, families, institutions and archaeological artifacts that are partly Scottish (in some sense) and partly Anglo-Norman (in some sense), after the Norman Conq ...

stone carving, with a round-topped doorway. Following the enlargement of the parish boundaries, the Prestonfield Aisle was added in 1631. This consists of a gallery, downstairs area and burial vaults were on the north side. In 1968 the kirk's interior was reconditioned, with the former pipe organ removed. Given its proximity to central Edinburgh, Duddingston has long been a favourite location for many of the city's artists and professionals. The novelist

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

was ordained an elder at Duddingston in 1806. The kirk has also been used as a venue during the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

Ministers

From 1805–1840 the minister was the painter John Thomson. He was replaced in 1841 by James Macfarlane. Other ministers include

Charles Lumsden Charles J. Lumsden (born 1949) is a Canadian biologist in the Department of Medicine and Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto. He has been an early proponent of sociobiology, looking to our genetic nature to supplement culture in des ...

and

Robert Monteith of Salmonet Robert Monteith of Salmonet (1603–1660) was a colourful character who abandoned his role as a Presbyterian minister in the Church of Scotland to join the Roman Catholic Church where he rose to be a Canon in Notre Dame de Paris, France. He ...

in the 17th century, and Robert Pollock in the 18th century.

Stained glass

The north triple window in the gallery, designed by

Douglas Strachan Douglas Strachan Hon. RSA (26 May 1875, Aberdeen, Scotland – 20 November 1950) is considered the most significant Scottish designer of stained glass windows in the 20th century. He is best known for his windows at the Peace Palace in The Hagu ...

, is dedicated to Joan Carfrae, wife of the security agency founder

Allan Pinkerton Allan Pinkerton (August 21, 1819Mackay (1997), p. 20; August 25 was the date of his baptism, which many sources incorrectly give as his birth date. – July 1, 1884) was a Scottish-American detective, spy, abolitionist, and cooper best known f ...

. The stained glass immediately east of the pulpit commemorates

Stevenson Macadam Stevenson Macadam (27 April 1829 – 24 January 1901) was a Scottish scientist, analytical chemist, lecturer, and academic author. He was a founding member of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain (now the Royal Society of Chemistry) an ...

, an elder in the church.

Duddingston Kirkyard

Notable burials and memorials include: *

William Dick-Cunyngham Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Dick-Cunyngham VC (16 June 1851 – 6 January 1900) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British ...

VC (memorial only) * David Thomas Ker Drummond * Benjamin Duff Dunbar (1808-1897) * James Macfarlane *

Mackintosh MacKay Mackintosh MacKay (1793 – 1873) was a Scottish minister and author who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1849. He edited the Highland Society's prodigious Gaelic dictionary ('Dictionarium Scoto-Celt ...

(1792-1873) Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1849 *

Thomas Meik Thomas Meik ( – )Thomas Meik
''Grace's Guide''. Retrieved: 8 October 2015. was a 19th-century Scottish en ...

engineer * James Browne LLD is apparently in the base of the church tower.Cassells Old and New Edinburgh vol.2 Ch.31 *

John Thomson of Duddingston Rev John Thomson FRSE HonRoyal Scottish Academy, RSA (1 September 177828 October 1840) was a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland and noted amateur landscape painter. He was the Minister of the Church of Scotland, minister of Duddingsto ...

References

External links