St Cuthbert's Parish

The Parish Church of St Cuthbert is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in central Edinburgh. Probably founded in the 7th century, the church once covered an extensive parish around the burgh of Edinburgh. The church's current building was designed by Hippolyte Blanc and completed in 1894.

St Cuthbert's is situated within a large churchyard that bounds Princes Street Gardens and Lothian Road. A church was probably founded on this site during or shortly after the life of Cuthbert. The church is first recorded in 1128, when David I granted it to Holyrood Abbey. At that time, the church covered an extensive parish, which was gradually reduced until the 20th century by the erection and expansion of other parishes, many of which were founded as chapels of ease of St Cuthbert's. St Cuthbert's became a Protestant church at the Scottish Reformation in 1560: from after the Reformation until the 19th century, the church was usually called the West Kirk. After the Restoration in 1660, the congregation remained loyal to the Covenanters. The church's position at the foot of Castle Rock saw it damaged or destroyed at least four times between the 14th and 17th centuries.

The current church was built between 1892 and 1894 to replace a Georgian church, which had itself replaced a building of uncertain age. The building was designed by Hippolyte Blanc in the Baroque and Renaissance styles and retains the steeple of the previous church. The ''Buildings of Scotland'' guide to Edinburgh calls the church's furnishings "extraordinary". Features include stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Douglas Strachan, and Ballantyne & Gardiner; mural paintings by Gerald Moira and John Duncan; and memorials by John Flaxman and George Frampton. The church also possesses a ring of ten bells by Taylor of Loughborough. The church has been a Category A listed building since 1970.

Seven of the church's ministers have served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland during their incumbencies, including Robert Pont, who held the role on six occasions between the 1570s and 1590s. The church's present work includes ministries among homeless people and Edinburgh's business community.

History

Earliest days to the Reformation

It is uncertain when the first church of St Cuthbert was founded. Some secondary sources date its foundation to the latter part of the 7th century, during or shortly after the life of Saint Cuthbert.Scott 1915, p. 93.Dunlop 1988, p. 109.Gray 1940, p. 23.Lorimer 1915, p. 5. Others place its foundation and dedication to the saint after the arrival to Scotland of Queen Margaret in 1069.RCAHMS 1951, p. 185. St Cuthbert's may be the church of "Edwinsbruch" which Symeon of Durham refers to as being in the possession of Lindisfarne in 854. The parish may also have covered the whole of Edinburgh before the parish of St Giles' was detached from it in the 12th century.

The earliest explicit record of the church comes in a charter of c. 1127, issued by David I granting to St Cuthbert's Church near the castle ′''all the land below the castle, from the spring which rises beside the corner of the king's garden along the road to the church, and from the other side beneath the castle to a road beneath the castle towards the east''′.

The 1127 charter is followed almost immediately by another charter in 1128. This charter, issued by David I, gave the parish of St Cuthbert to Holyrood Abbey. This charter also granted the Abbey two chapels of the church, located at Liberton and Corstorphine; these became independent parish churches around the middle of the 13th century. The church of St Cuthbert was consecrated by David de Bernham, bishop of St Andrews on 16 March 1242; this was probably a re-consecration to correct the loss of any previous record of consecration. In 1251, Bishop David annexed the parsonage of St Cuthbert's to Holyrood, whereafter it became a perpetual vicarage, usually held by one of the canons of Holyrood. By the 15th century, the church contained multiple subsidiary altars served by chaplains.Gray 1940, p. 24.

A relic of the medieval St Cuthbert's was discovered in 1773: while demolishing the old church, workmen discovered bones and a leaden urn within a leaden coffin. The urn issued a fragrant smell and within it lay an embalmed human heart. The heart may have been that of a crusader that was returned to his family from the Holy Land.Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 8.

The church may have been destroyed during Richard II's sack of Edinburgh in 1385 and again during the sack of Edinburgh in 1544. After the latter destruction, it may have been rebuilt: in 1550, Alexander Ales referred to "the new Parish Church of St Cuthbert's". By the time of the Scottish Reformation, St Cuthbert's parish covered a large area surrounding the burghs of Edinburgh and the Canongate: it bounded Newhaven and Cramond in the north; Corstorphine in the west, Colinton and Liberton in the south; and Duddingston and Restalrig in the north. The parish also contained nunneries at Sciennes and the Pleasance.

The first Protestant minister of St Cuthbert's was William Harlaw, a colleague of John Knox, who, unlike Knox himself, had remained in Scotland in the face of persecution. In 1574, Harlaw was joined by Robert Pont. Skilled in law as well as theology, Pont served as moderator of the General Assembly on six occasions and also acted as a Lord of Session. John Napier served as an elder of St Cuthbert's around the turn of the 17th century.

Conflict: 1572–1689

In the 16th and 17th century, St Cuthbert's position in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle left the church vulnerable when the Castle came under attack. In January 1573, during the siege of the Castle in the Marian civil war, troops of the Regent Morton occupied St Cuthbert's and were attacked by some of the defenders of the castle, who set fire to the church on 17 January 1573. The church was probably rebuilt after this.Gray 1940, p. 25. In 1593, a new church, known as the "Little Kirk" was constructed at the western end.

When Charles I erected the Diocese of Edinburgh in 1633, St Cuthbert's was allocated to the new diocese. The church was again damaged during the Bishops' Wars in 1640–1642. The congregation had decamped to the Dean by May 1640.Gray 1940, p. 126. In the summer of 1650, the church was occupied as a battery by the soldiers of Oliver Cromwell. The congregation met in the Town's College during these events, returning only in 1655.Gray 1940, pp. 26-27.

In 1660, at the Restoration and the reintroduction of episcopacy in the Church of Scotland, the ministers and most of the congregation adhered to the Covenants and were expelled from the established church. David Williamson and James Reid ministered to the faithful at a new site in the Dean.Gray 1940, p. 27.

At the Glorious Revolution in 1689, the church was damaged by cannon fire from the Castle and the congregation again removed to the Dean.Dunlop 1988, p. 110. The accession of William of Orange led to the abolition of episcopacy in the Church of Scotland and the right to nominate ministers of St Cuthbert's passed to the Crown. Nomination could, however, prove controversial: in 1732, the imposition of Patrick Wotherspoon as minister caused a riot around the doors of the church. This was quelled by the intervention of the town guard under Captain Porteous.Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 17. David Williamson returned as minister at the revolution and remained until his death in 1706. Known as "Dainty Davie" for the delicacy of his manners, Williamson was a leading figure in church and state, serving as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1702.Gray 1940, p. 28.Lorimer 1915, p. 43.

18th century to present

St Cuthbert's was loyal to the Hanoverians during the Jacobite risings and provided a quota of volunteers to suppress the 1715 rebellion. During the 1745 rebellion, Jacobite troops were stationed in St Cuthbert's. During their occupation of Edinburgh, the Jacobites restricted worship within the city churches yet worship continued in St Cuthbert's as usual and the minister, Neil McVicar, avoided the proclamation to pray for Charles Edward Stuart. McVicar instead offered the prayer: "Bless the King. Thou knowest what King I mean. As for the man that is come among us seeking an earthly crown, we beseech Thee in mercy to take him to Thyself, and give him a crown of glory."

St Cuthbert's was involved in the early development of Methodism. In May 1764, John Wesley visited St Cuthbert's for communion; in his journal, he unfavourably compared the rites to those of the Church of England. Lady Maxwell of Pollok, one of Wesley's leading supporters in Scotland, was also a member of St Cuthbert's.Gray 1940, p. 29.

By the middle of the 18th century, the Church of St Cuthbert was nearing ruin: in 1745, the roof of the Little Kirk was destroyed and in 1772, the collapse of some seating occasioned the condemnation of the building. The congregation decamped to the Methodist Chapel in Low Calton and returned on 31 July 1775, when the new church was opened.

The Disruption of 1843 little affected St Cuthbert's. Neither minister joined the Free Church; however, six elders did and founded Free St Cuthbert's.

By the late 19th century, the 18th-century church was inadequate for what was, by then, one of Scotland's largest congregations. The final service was held on 11 May 1890 and the foundation stone of the new church was laid on 18 May 1892 by William Hay, 10th Marquess of Tweeddale, Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who read a message from Queen Victoria. The new church, designed by Hippolyte Blanc, was opened on 11 July 1894.Gray 1940, p. 31. The interior of the church was embellished with furnishings and artwork throughout the 20th century. On 11 September 1930, Agatha Christie married her second husand, Max Mallowan, in the memorial chapel.

Parish

Territory and population

From earliest times to the 19th century, St Cuthbert's parish covered a large area around Edinburgh. In the late Northumbrian period, St Cuthbert's may have served as the minster for an area stretching from the environs of Edinburgh to the River Almond in the west and the Pentland Hills in the south. The parish had been reduced in size in the mid-13th century by the detachment of Liberton and Corstorphine. Prior to the foundation of St Giles' in the 12th century, the parish may also have covered the burgh of Edinburgh itself.

By the time of the Scottish Reformation, St Cuthbert's parish contained around 2,000 inhabitants and covered a large area surrounding the burghs of Edinburgh and the Canongate: it bounded Newhaven and Cramond in the north; Corstorphine in the west, Colinton and Liberton in the south; and Duddingston and Restalrig in the east. The parish also contained nunneries at Sciennes and the Pleasance, two chapels on the Burgh Muir and other chapels at Newhaven, Low Calton, and Wester Portsburgh.Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 7.

After the Reformation, the size of the parish was reduced by the extension of Edinburgh's parishes in 1621 and again by the transfers of Saughton and Ravelston to Corstorphine and Craiglockhart to Colinton in 1627 and the transfer of Newhaven to North Leith in 1630.Dunlop 1988, p. 111. By 1642, the parish was divided into 21 area divisions; by 1743, this had increased to 26. In the same year, the population of the parish was 9,493, rising to 12,000 in 1753; by 1822, the population of the parish's southern division alone was 20,250.

Chapels of ease

In 1754, the kirk session agreed to address the parish's growing population by constructing the first of a number of chapels of ease. Completed in 1756 and known as the Buccleuch Chapel, the General Assembly recognised this first chapel as a parish '' quoad sacra'' in 1834. By the creation of other chapels and their elevation as parish churches, the size of St Cuthbert's parish was gradually reduced.

Detached parishes

In addition to chapels of ease founded by St Cuthbert's, the erection of other parish churches further reduced the size of St Cuthbert's parish. St Andrew's, St George's, St Mary's, and St Stephen's covered the expanding area of the New Town and were raised by the town council between 1781 and 1828. Otherwise, most of these churches were raised as missions by St Cuthbert's or by neighbouring churches. As early as 1836, St Cuthbert's supported missionaries in St Leonard's and Canonmills.

Schools and poorhouse

A parish school in St Cuthbert's is first mentioned in 1596. In 1612, Samuel West applied to found a grammar school in the West Port; he was followed by others, who founded schools at the Pleasance, Burghmuirhead, the Dean, and at Kirkbraehead (now Lothian Road).Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 15. In 1826, a parish school was constructed in Dean Street and transferred to the parish of St Bernard's in 1852.Dunlop 1988, p. 112.

In 1583, the kirk session introduced beggars' badges for use in the parish.Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 11. The use of begging badges continued, with an interruption between 1731 and 1739, until 1762, when the church opened a charity poorhouse on Riding School Lane, now on the site of the Caledonian Hotel.Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 21. The number of occupants rose from 84 at the poorhouse's foundation to 539 in 1837. By this time, the poorhouse incorporated a school for over 200 children as well as a sewing school. In 1867, the Caledonian Railway's construction of Princes Street Station forced the poorhouse to move. From 1871, the poorhouse then occupied a new building in Craigleith, designed by Peddie and Kinnear. During the First World War, this was occupied as an army hospital and now forms the oldest part of the Western General Hospital.

Halls

St Cuthbert's maintained mission halls in Morrison Street in Tollcross from 1849 to 1967 and on Freer Street in Fountainbridge from 1903 to 1958.Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 6.

The former church halls stand within the churchyard slightly south of the church and facing onto King's Stables Road. The two-storeyed halls were completed in 1893 to designs of McCarthy and Watson and are in the Queen Anne style, displaying the influence of James Gibbs. The halls replaced an earlier building by MacGibbon and Ross, which was demolished due to the expansion of the railway.Gifford, McWilliam, Walker 1984, p. 276. The halls were refurbished in 1981 and given over to commercial purposes after the creation of new rooms within the church itself in the early 1990s. They have been Category C listed since 2000.

Architecture

Previous buildings

Pre-1775 church

Before the building of the previous St Cuthbert's in 1775, the architectural history of the church is unclear. When the Georgian church was demolished, evidence of six previous buildings was claimed to have been found. The preceding church may have been built after the sack of Edinburgh in 1544 and before 1550, when Alexander Ales refers to the "new parish church of St Cuthbert's". Alternatively, the church demolished in the 1770s may have been constructed in the wake of the Lang Siege. When the 1775 church was demolished, a number of Gothic moulded stones were discovered among the rubble: these probably came from the earlier church.Lorimer 1915, p. 6.

James Gordon of Rothiemay's 1647 map of Edinburgh shows a long building with a pitched roof, a transept at the south, and a tower at the west. From the late 16th century, records of the kirk session make frequent references to repairs and additions to the church. Many of these concern the addition of new lofts to accommodate a growing congregation. In 1593, an extension, known as the "Little Kirk" was added to the west of the church, the steeple was rebuilt, and the church's thatch roof was replaced with slates. The church was damaged during the Protectorate and afterwards repaired, except for the Little Kirk, which was converted into a burial aisle. The Little Kirk was unroofed in 1745. By the time of its demolition, St Cuthbert's was an amorphous collection of extensions; William Sime described an interior of "petty galleries stuck up one above another, to the very rafters, like so many pigeons' nests".Gray 1940, p. 30.Gifford, McWilliam, Walker 1984, p. 274.

The only portion of this church to survive is the burial vault of the Nisbets of Dean under the north side of the church, the entrance to which is marked by a stone plaque, bearing the family arms and dated 1692. The plaque was taken down and reinstated during the construction of the 1775 church and again during the construction of the current church.

Georgian St Cuthbert's

In 1772, the older church was condemned and replaced with a simple, barn-like church designed and built by James Weir. The church stood four bays in length and three in width with a long, round-headed upper window in each bay; in the longitudinal walls, these stood above shorter, segmental-arched lower windows. The roof rested at a shallow pitch. An oculus adorned the space beneath the apex of the east gable. The corners were quoined.Hay 1957, p. 81.

Initially, this church possessed a pedimented tower whose base projected from the line of the west gable but whose height extended no further than the line of the roof. Between 1789 and 1790, Alexander Stevens heightened the tower by addition the steeple. The tower and its steeple are the only surviving portion of the Georgian church, having been retained during the construction of the current church.

Internally, box pews and two storeys of semi-octagonal galleries surrounded the tall, canopied pulpit. The galleries were accessed by a stairway in the west tower with trap stairs leading into the galleries.Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 23. The church could seat up to 3,000.Stephenson, Hunter, Thow 1994, p. 22.

By 1888, the church had become unfashionable and unsafe and Hippolyte Blanc was appointed to design a replacement. Blanc first proposed only to recase the building; it was later decided to rebuild the church on a larger scale. The last service was held in the Georgian church on 11 May 1890. The money for the rebuild was in large part from the will of Rev James Veitch who had died in 1879.Fasti Ecclesiastae Scoticana by Hew Scott

Present church

Exterior

Except for the steeple, the church was designed by Hippolyte Blanc in the Renaissance and Baroque styles and constructed between 1892 and 1894.Dunlop 1988, p. 107. Blanc's exterior is executed in cream sandstone, roughly dressed and snecked with ashlar dressings. The exterior is divided into upper and lower levels by a continuous course of ashlar. Every corner of the church is decorated with half-fluted Corinthian pilasters on the upper stage and quoining on the lower. The roof rests at a shallow pitch and is slated