Talk:Edinburgh Towns and Villages C

Canongate

Cannongate Kirk
The residents of Canongate had for many years used the Abbey Church of the Palace of Holyroodhouse for worship, the building of Canongate Kirk in 1691 allowed the Abbey Church to be converted to a chapel for the Order of the Thistle. The front of the building has a curious mix of architectural styles, the curved gable wall has a Dutch appearance whilst the entrance porch sits on doric columns. The interior layout is of cruciform shape despite the largely rectangular appearance of the building itself and has been renovated most recently in the 1950's and exterior works took place in the early 1990's. During 1998 a new organ was installed, supplied by a Danish company the organ was the 1000th they had supplied.

St Giles Kirk
There is a long and sometimes confusing history attributed to St Giles Kirk. The first building on the site was twelfth century, a later and larger building was destroyed in the late 1300's by fire, some fragments of the original stones can be seen in the walls of the current building. Perhaps strangely the church boasted over 50 altars by the mid 1600's as many chapels were built by guilds of craftsmen, merchants and nobles of Edinburgh, this was achieved by partitioning the building into several small areas. William Forbes became the first bishop of the new diocese of Edinburgh in the 1630's, the church then gained Cathedral status from 1635-1638 and again from 1661-1689. By the 1820's the building was in poor repair, removal of some of the chapels and exterior renovations were carried out, by the 1870's a major set of renovation works resulted in old galleries and partition walls being removed, stained glass being installed and a single interior space being created.

St Mary's RC Cathedral
Occupying the site of a small chapel built in 1814 St Mary's RC Cathedral was first elevated to pro-cathedral status in the late 1870's and by 1886 was raised to Metropolitan Cathedral status at the request of Bishop Smth. Some remains of the 1814 chapel can still be seen within centre of the Gothic frontage of the building.

St Columba's by the Castle
St Columba's by the Castle shares an architectural link to Old St Paul's Kirk by way of John Henderson and his son, John being responsible for St Columba's in the latter part of the 1840's whilst his son is responsible for Old St Pauls some thirty years later.
The building is deceptively simple, comprising six bays, one for the chancel, one for the entrance and vestibule whilst the remaining four form the (aisleless) nave. The building is relatively small for a church within a city and as the name suggests stands close to the castle. Internally the building has a stone altar, font and pulpit. The organ dates to around 1880 and it is believed some of the wood panelling was gifted to the church at about the time of World War I.

The Old Kirk
The Old (or Great) Kirk dates to 1881, built originally for a congregation which had used St Giles Kirk, it remained in use until 1941. The architects were Anderson and Browne. In 1944 the kirk and adjacent hall were purchased by Moray House, in 1949 conversion work saw the building become the base for the Music and Educational Handwork departments. The hall had become too dangerous to use by the late 1970's and was demolished. The kirk building now stands empty but had housed Moray House's Building Services.

Tron Kirk
When St Giles became the seat of the Bishop of Edinburgh (and therefore Cathedral status), the congregation commiisioned a new church to be built a short distance down the street. Construction of Tron Kirk took around ten years, completed in the late 1640's the kirk originally had a wooden tower. Perhaps suprisingly the building fell victim to developement of the area in 1785 and the works meant the building was truncated and the original "T" layout was lost. The tower had to be replaced in the 1820's due to fire damage, the replacement being taller than the original. Worship ceased in the 1950's and the building is now an information centre, excavations within the church uncovered what is believed to be the oldest paved street in Edinburgh known as Marlin's Wynd/

Old St Pauls
The congregation of Old St Pauls used a building which had become dangerous and decrepit by the 1870's and a new building was needed. The new building was commissioned in 1878, architects Hay & Henderson were appointed in 1883, the nave was extended and side chapels added in the early 1900's.The church stands on the site of the original home of Scottish Episcopalianism in Edinburgh.

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