St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh
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. Others place its foundation and dedication to the saint after the arrival to Scotland of Queen Margaret in 1069. 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.
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.
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 on 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. 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. 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.
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.
At the Glorious Revolution in 1689, the church was damaged by cannon fire from the Castle and the congregation again removed to the Dean. 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. 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.
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.
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. The interior of the church was embellished with furnishings and artwork throughout the 20th century. On 11 September 1930, Agatha Christie married her second husband, 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.
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. 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.