82-636: Cockburn Street ( / ˈ k oʊ b ər n / KOH -bərn ) is a street in Edinburgh's Old Town , created as a serpentine link from the High Street to Waverley Station in 1856. Originally named Lord Cockburn Street after the then recently-deceased Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure Henry, Lord Cockburn who was influential in urging his fellow citizens to remain vigilant in ensuring that early-Victorian expansion, e.g. improvements such as Cockburn Street, did not irrevocably damage or obliterate
164-456: A Scottish version of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer provoked rioting due to the latter's perceived similarities to Roman Catholic ritual. Tradition attests that this riot was started when a market trader named Jenny Geddes threw her stool at the dean , James Hannay. In response to the unrest, services at St Giles' were temporarily suspended. The events of 23 July 1637 led to
246-622: A cathedral again. At Charles' orders, the body of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose – a senior supporter of Charles I executed by the Covenanters – was re-interred in St Giles'. The reintroduction of bishops sparked a new period of rebellion and, in the wake of the Battle of Rullion Green in 1666, Covenanters were imprisoned in the former priests' prison above the north door , which, by then, had become known as "Haddo's Hole" due to
328-605: A downwards slope from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace and the ruined Holyrood Abbey . Narrow closes (alleyways), often no more than a few feet wide, lead steeply downhill to both north and south of the main spine which runs west to east. Significant buildings in the Old Town include St. Giles' Cathedral , the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland , the National Museum of Scotland ,
410-510: A lack of funds, nothing was done with them. George IV attended service in the High Kirk during his 1822 visit to Scotland . The publicity of the King's visit created impetus to restore the now-dilapidated building. With £20,000 supplied by the city council and the government, William Burn was commissioned to lead the restoration. Burn's initial plans were modest, but, under pressure from
492-549: A leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment and religious moderate, served as minister of the High Kirk; his sermons were famous throughout Britain and attracted Robert Burns and Samuel Johnson to the church. Blair's contemporary, Alexander Webster , was a leading evangelical who, from his pulpit in the Tolbooth Kirk, expounded strict Calvinist doctrine. At the beginning of the 19th century,
574-659: A leading opponent of Mary, Queen of Scots , was interred within the church; John Knox preached at this event. Edinburgh briefly fell to Mary's forces and, in June and July 1572, William Kirkcaldy of Grange stationed soldiers and cannon in the tower. Although his colleague of 9 years John Craig had remained in Edinburgh during these events, Knox, his health failing, had retired to St Andrews . A deputation from Edinburgh recalled him to St Giles' and there he preached his final sermon on 9 November 1572. Knox died later that month and
656-530: A movement for liturgical beautification in late 19th century Scottish Presbyterianism and many evangelicals feared the restored St Giles' would more resemble a Roman Catholic church than a Presbyterian one. Nevertheless, the Presbytery of Edinburgh approved plans in March 1870 and the High Kirk was restored between June 1872 and March 1873: the pews and gallery were replaced with stalls and chairs and, for
738-411: A petition from John Spottiswoode , Archbishop of St Andrews , elevated St Giles' to the status of a cathedral to serve as the seat of the new Bishop of Edinburgh . Work began to remove the internal partition walls and to furnish the interior in the manner of Durham Cathedral . Work on the church was incomplete when, on 23 July 1637, the replacement in St Giles' of Knox's Book of Common Order by
820-596: A place of worship for those who wished to remain in the Roman Catholic faith while St Giles' served Edinburgh's Protestants. Mary of Guise also offered the Lords of the Congregation that the parish church of Edinburgh would, after 10 January 1560, remain in whichever confession proved the most popular among the burgh's inhabitants. These proposals, however, came to nothing and the Lords of the Congregation signed
902-616: A truce with the Roman Catholic forces and vacated Edinburgh. Knox, fearing for his life, left the city on 24 July 1559. St Giles', however, remained in Protestant hands. Knox's deputy, John Willock , continued to preach even as French soldiers disrupted his sermons, and ladders, to be used in the Siege of Leith , were constructed in the church. The events of the Scottish Reformation thereafter briefly turned in favour of
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#1732791154591984-583: Is briefly attested during the reign of James VI as referring to the whole building. A 1625 order of the Privy Council of Scotland refers to the Great Kirk congregation, which was then meeting in St Giles', as the "High Kirk". The title fell out of use until reapplied in the late 18th century to the East (or New) Kirk, the most prominent of the four congregations then meeting in the church. Since 1883,
1066-418: Is one of Scotland's most important medieval parish church buildings. The first church of St Giles' was a small Romanesque building of which only fragments remain. In the 14th century, this was replaced by the current building which was enlarged between the late 14th and early 16th centuries. The church was altered between 1829 and 1833 by William Burn and restored between 1872 and 1883 by William Hay with
1148-574: Is the church's founder, the dedication may be connected to their sister Matilda , who founded St Giles in the Fields . Prior to the Reformation , St Giles' was the only parish church in Edinburgh and some contemporary writers, such as Jean Froissart , refer simply to the "church of Edinburgh". From its elevation to collegiate status in 1467 until the Reformation, the church's full title
1230-425: Is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland 's capital city of Edinburgh . The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation -era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town , and West End , it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site . The " Royal Mile " is a name coined in the early 20th century for the main street of the Old Town which runs on
1312-467: The Battle of Flodden in 1513. As Edinburgh's men were ordered by the town council to defend the city, its women were ordered to gather in St Giles' to pray for James IV and his army. Requiem Mass for the King and the memorial mass for the dead of the battle were held in St Giles' and Walter Chepman endowed a chapel of the Crucifixion in the lower part of the kirkyard in the King's memory. In
1394-507: The Church of Scotland from 1584. Relations reached their nadir after a tumult at St Giles' on 17 December 1596. The King briefly removed to Linlithgow and the ministers were blamed for inciting the crowd; they fled the city rather than comply with their summons to appear before the King. To weaken the ministers, James made effective, as of April 1598, an order of the town council from 1584 to divide Edinburgh into distinct parishes . In 1620,
1476-419: The Church of Scotland , effectively establishing the independent Scottish Episcopal Church . In Edinburgh alone, eleven meeting houses of this secession sprang up, including the congregation that became Old St Paul's , which was founded when Alexander Rose , the last Bishop of Edinburgh in the established church, led much of his congregation out of St Giles'. In 1699, the courtroom in the northern half of
1558-460: The Luckenbooths and Tolbooth , which had enclosed the north side of the church, were demolished along with shops built up around the walls of the church. The exposure of the church's exterior revealed its walls were leaning outwards. In 1817, the city council commissioned Archibald Elliot to produce plans for the church's restoration. Elliot's drastic plans proved controversial and, due to
1640-656: The Old College of the University of Edinburgh , Parliament House and the Scottish Parliament Building . The area contains underground vaults and hidden passages that are relics of previous phases of construction. No part of the street is officially called The Royal Mile in terms of legal addresses. The actual street names (running west to east) are Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate and Abbey Strand. The street layout, typical of
1722-663: The Pope had no authority in Scotland. Workmen, assisted by sailors from the Port of Leith , took nine days to clear stone altars and monuments from the church. Precious items used in pre-Reformation worship were sold. The church was whitewashed, its pillars painted green, and the Ten Commandments and Lord's Prayer painted on the walls. Seating was installed for children and the burgh's council and incorporations . A pulpit
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#17327911545911804-598: The Royal Mile ). The truncated ends of the closes were remodelled in the Scots Baronial style from 1859 to 1864. The majority of buildings are by the firm of Peddie & Kinnear . It was originally called Lord Cockburn Street but the "Lord" was abandoned within ten years. The street is largely 4 storeys high but is dominated by the huge rear edifice of the City Chambers , which tower 12 storeys above
1886-466: The Royal Mile . From its initial construction in the 12th century until the 14th century, St Giles' was located near the eastern edge of Edinburgh. By the time of the construction of the King's Wall in the mid-15th century, the burgh had expanded and St Giles' stood near its central point. In the late medieval and early modern periods, St Giles' was also located at the centre of Edinburgh's civic life:
1968-643: The Tolbooth – Edinburgh's administrative centre – stood immediately north-west of the church and the Mercat Cross – Edinburgh's commercial and symbolic centre – stood immediately north-east of it. From the construction of the Tolbooth in the late 14th century until the early 19th century, St Giles' stood in the most constricted point of the High Street with the Luckenbooths and Tolbooth jutting into
2050-794: The cathedral of the newly created Diocese of Edinburgh . Charles' attempt to impose doctrinal changes on the presbyterian Scottish Kirk, including a Prayer Book causing a riot in St Giles' on 23 July 1637, which precipitated the formation of the Covenanters and the beginnings of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . St Giles' role in the Scottish Reformation and the Covenanters' Rebellion has led to its being called "the Mother Church of World Presbyterianism ". St Giles'
2132-479: The choir to commemorate this benefactor; Preston's eldest male descendants were given the right to carry the relic at the head of the Saint Giles' Day procession every 1 September. Around 1460, extension of the chancel and the addition thereto of a clerestory were supported by Mary of Guelders , possibly in memory of her husband, James II . In the years following St Giles' elevation to collegiate status,
2214-459: The "tail", and the advantages of living within the defensive wall, the Old Town became home to some of the world's earliest "high rise" residential buildings. Multi-storey dwellings became the norm from the 16th century onwards. Many of these buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of Edinburgh in 1824; the rebuilding of these on the original foundations led to changes in the ground level and
2296-469: The Canongate. These were built to a much higher scale than the older buildings and have greatly increased the population of the area. Archaeological work is usually required to be undertaken in advance of development work in the Old Town and this work has shed light on aspects of the Old Town's past. Some recent excavations have been: In 1824 a major fire, the Great Fire of Edinburgh , destroyed most of
2378-496: The Church of Scotland, as a Presbyterian church, has had no bishops and, therefore, no cathedrals . St Giles' is one of a number of former cathedrals in the Church of Scotland – such as Glasgow Cathedral or Dunblane Cathedral – that retain their title despite having lost this status. Since the church's initial elevation to cathedral status, the building as a whole has generally been called St Giles' Cathedral, St Giles' Kirk or Church, or simply St Giles'. The title "High Kirk"
2460-758: The East Kirk as a garrison church. General John Lambert and Cromwell himself were among English soldiers who preached in the church and, during the Protectorate , the East Kirk and Tolbooth Kirk were each partitioned in two. At the Restoration in 1660, the Cromwellian partition was removed from the East Kirk and a new royal loft was installed there. In 1661, the Parliament of Scotland , under Charles II , restored episcopacy and St Giles' became
2542-678: The East Kirk under the supervision of its minister, Alexander Henderson , a leading Covenanter . The King had lost the Bishops' Wars and had come to Edinburgh because the Treaty of Ripon compelled him to ratify Acts of the Parliament of Scotland passed during the ascendancy of the Covenanters. After the Covenanters' loss at the Battle of Dunbar , troops of the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell entered Edinburgh and occupied
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2624-589: The High Kirk congregation has occupied the entire building. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland identified St Giles' as "the central focus of the Old Town ". The church occupies a prominent and flat portion of the ridge that leads down from Edinburgh Castle ; it sits on the south side of the High Street: the main street of the Old Town and one of the streets that make up
2706-601: The High Kirk, left their charges and the established church to join the newly founded Free Church . A significant number of their congregation left with them; as did William King Tweedie, minister of the first charge of the Tolbooth Kirk, and Charles John Brown, minister of Haddo's Hole Kirk . The Old Kirk congregation was suppressed in 1860. At a public meeting in Edinburgh City Chambers on 1 November 1867, William Chambers , publisher and Lord Provost of Edinburgh , first advanced his ambition to remove
2788-642: The High Street immediately north and north-west of the church. A lane known as the Stinkand Style (or Kirk Style) was formed in the narrow space between the Luckenbooths and the north side of the church. In this lane, open stalls known as the Krames were set up between the buttresses of the church. St Giles' forms the north side of Parliament Square with the Law Courts on the south side of
2870-611: The Roman Catholic party: they retook Edinburgh and the French agent Nicolas de Pellevé , Bishop of Amiens , reconsecrated St Giles' as a Roman Catholic church on 9 November 1559. After the Treaty of Berwick secured the intervention of Elizabeth I of England on the side of the Reformers, they retook Edinburgh. St Giles' once again became a Protestant church on 1 April 1560 and Knox returned to Edinburgh on 23 April 1560. The Parliament of Scotland legislated that, from 24 August 1560,
2952-468: The Royal Mile and the newly built Waverley Station . The Edinburgh City Improvement Act of 1866 further added to the north south routes. This was devised by the architects David Cousin and John Lessels . It had quite radical effects: In addition to the Royal Mile, the Old Town may be divided into various areas, namely from west to east: Due to the space restrictions imposed by the narrowness of
3034-517: The Royal Mile only had narrow closes and wynds leading off its sides. These began to be supplemented from the late 18th century with wide new north–south routes, beginning with the North Bridge / South Bridge route, and then George IV Bridge . These rectilinear forms were complemented from the mid-19th century with more serpentine forms, starting with Cockburn Street, laid out by Peddie and Kinnear in 1856, which specifically improved access between
3116-611: The Tolbooth partition was converted into the New North (or Haddo's Hole) Kirk . At the Union of Scotland and England's Parliaments in 1707, the tune "Why Should I Be Sad on my Wedding Day?" rang out from St Giles' recently installed carillon . During the Jacobite rising of 1745 , inhabitants of Edinburgh met in St Giles' and agreed to surrender the city to the advancing army of Charles Edward Stuart . From 1758 to 1800, Hugh Blair ,
3198-494: The Upper Tolbooth congregation vacated St Giles' for the newly established Greyfriars Kirk . James' son and successor, Charles I , first visited St Giles' on 23 June 1633 during his visit to Scotland for his coronation. He arrived at the church unannounced and displaced the reader with clergy who conducted the service according to the rites of the Church of England . On 29 September that year, Charles, responding to
3280-456: The Victorian era and the first half of the 20th century, Burn's work fell far from favour among commentators. Its critics included Robert Louis Stevenson , who stated: "…zealous magistrates and a misguided architect have shorn the design of manhood and left it poor, naked, and pitifully pretentious." Since the second half of the 20th century, Burn's work has been recognised as having secured
3362-491: The army of the Lords of the Congregation entered Edinburgh unopposed and, that afternoon, John Knox , the foremost figure of the Reformation in Scotland, first preached in St Giles'. The following week, Knox was elected minister of St Giles' and, the week after that, the purging of the church's Roman Catholic furnishings began. Mary of Guise (who was then ruling as regent for her daughter Mary ) offered Holyrood Abbey as
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3444-571: The author Alexander McCall Smith and Sheila Gilmore MP who regard the modern design as incompatible with the existing older architectural styles of the Old Town and inappropriate for a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Caltongate development was also opposed by the Cockburn Association and the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland . The site developers Artisan Real Estate Investors have stated that
3526-491: The authorities, Burn produced something closer to Elliot's plans. Between 1829 and 1833, Burn significantly altered the church: he encased the exterior in ashlar , raised the church's roofline and reduced its footprint. He also added north and west doors and moved the internal partitions to create a church in the nave, a church in the choir, and a meeting place for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in
3608-745: The buildings on the south side of the High Street section between St. Giles Cathedral and the Tron Kirk. During the Edinburgh International Festival the High Street and Hunter Square become gathering points where performers in the Fringe advertise their shows, often through street performances. On 7 December 2002, the Cowgate fire destroyed a small but dense group of old buildings on the Cowgate and South Bridge. It destroyed
3690-564: The built heritage and environment. Lord Cockburn's head is carved over the entrance to 1 Cockburn Street (the former Cockburn Hotel) which now serves as offices for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo . The street contains a series of small specialist shops. The street was sliced through the previous medieval pattern of closes in order to give a more gentle gradient and wider thoroughfare to Waverley Station (opened in 1846 but then only accessible via narrow and steep lanes from
3772-636: The church from possible collapse. The High Kirk returned to the choir in 1831. The Tolbooth Kirk returned to the nave in 1832; when they left for a new church on Castlehill in 1843, the nave was occupied by the Haddo's Hole congregation. The General Assembly found its new meeting hall inadequate and met there only once, in 1834; the Old Kirk congregation moved into the space. At the Disruption of 1843 , Robert Gordon and James Buchanan , ministers of
3854-522: The church is one of Scotland's most popular visitor sites: it attracted over a million visitors in 2018. Saint Giles is the patron saint of lepers . Though chiefly associated with the Abbey of Saint-Gilles in modern-day France , he was a popular saint in medieval Scotland . The church was first possessed by the monks of the Order of St Lazarus , who ministered among lepers; if David I or Alexander I
3936-456: The church reverted to the crown soon afterwards. In 1419, Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas led an unsuccessful petition to Pope Martin V to elevate St Giles' to collegiate status. Unsuccessful petitions to Rome followed in 1423 and 1429. The burgh launched another petition for collegiate status in 1466, which was granted by Pope Paul II in February 1467. The foundation replaced
4018-424: The church was elevated to collegiate status by Pope Paul II in 1467. In 1559, the church became Protestant with John Knox, the foremost figure of the Scottish Reformation, as its minister. After the Reformation, St Giles' was internally partitioned to serve multiple congregations as well as secular purposes, such as a prison and as a meeting place for the Parliament of Scotland . In 1633, Charles I made St Giles'
4100-595: The completed development will be a "vibrant, exciting" place. The plans were approved by the City of Edinburgh Council in January 2014 with construction taking place in the late 2010s. St. Giles%27 Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral ( Scottish Gaelic : Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles ), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh , is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh . The current building
4182-517: The creation of numerous passages and vaults under the Old Town. The construction of new streets including North Bridge and South Bridge in the 18th century also created underground spaces, such as the Edinburgh Vaults below the latter. Traditionally buildings were less dense in the eastern, Canongate, section. This area underwent major slum clearance and reconstruction in the 1950s, thereafter becoming an area largely of Council housing. From 1990 to 2010, major new housing schemes appeared throughout
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#17327911545914264-422: The crossing and the remainder of the nave became the Great (or Old) Kirk. These congregations, along with Trinity College Kirk and the Magdalen Chapel , were served by a joint kirk session . In 1598, the upper storey of the Tolbooth partition was converted into the West (or Tolbooth) Kirk. During the early majority of James VI , the ministers of St Giles' – led by Knox's successor, James Lawson – formed, in
4346-414: The famous comedy club, The Gilded Balloon , and much of the Informatics Department of the University of Edinburgh, including the comprehensive artificial intelligence library. The site was redeveloped 2013-2014 with a single new building, largely in hotel use. In the 1990s the Old Town Renewal Trust in conjunction with the City of Edinburgh developed an action plan for renewal An area directly to
4428-401: The film Hallam Foe . Scenes for the movie Avengers: Infinity War were filmed in the street in April 2017. The chase seen between Mark and Begbie in Trainspotting 2 includes a sequence on Cockburn Street. 55°57′02″N 3°11′21″W / 55.95056°N 3.18917°W / 55.95056; -3.18917 Edinburgh%27s Old Town The Old Town ( Scots : Auld Toun )
4510-550: The first time since the Reformation, stained glass and an organ were introduced. The restoration of the former Old Kirk and the West Kirk began in January 1879. In 1881, the West Kirk vacated St. Giles'. During the restoration, many human remains were unearthed; these were transported in five large boxes for reinterment in Greyfriars Kirkyard . Although he had managed to view the reunified interior, William Chambers died on 20 May 1883, only three days before John Hamilton-Gordon, 7th Earl of Aberdeen , Lord High Commissioner to
4592-472: The former kirkyard was developed and the square formed. The west front of St Giles' faces the former Midlothian County Buildings across West Parliament Square. The foundation of St Giles' is usually dated to 1124 and attributed to David I . The parish was likely detached from the older parish of St Cuthbert's . David raised Edinburgh to the status of a burgh and, during his reign, the church and its lands ( St Giles' Grange ) are first attested, being in
4674-474: The grounds of heresy. In October 1555, the town council ceremonially burned English language books, likely Reformers' texts, outside St Giles'. The theft from the church of images of the Virgin , St Francis , and the Trinity in 1556 may have been agitation by reformers. In July 1557, the church's statue of its patron, Saint Giles, was stolen and, according to John Knox , drowned in the Nor Loch then burned. For use in that year's Saint Giles' Day procession,
4756-465: The imprisonment there in 1644 of Royalist leader Sir John Gordon, 1st Baronet, of Haddo . After the Glorious Revolution , the Scottish bishops remained loyal to James VII . On the advice of William Carstares , who later became minister of the High Kirk, William II supported the abolition of bishops in the Church of Scotland and, in 1689, the Parliament of Scotland restored Presbyterian polity . In response, many ministers and congregants left
4838-407: The internal partitions and restore St Giles' as a " Westminster Abbey for Scotland". Chambers commissioned Robert Morham to produce initial plans. Lindsay Mackersy, solicitor and session clerk of the High Kirk, supported Chambers' work and William Hay was engaged as architect; a management board to supervise the design of new windows and monuments was also created. The restoration was part of
4920-482: The north of the Canongate has seen a large redevelopment project originally named Caltongate, but since rebranded as New Waverley. The scheme involved building of a mix of residential, hotel, retail and office buildings on the site of the former SMT bus depot in New Street, developing the arches under Jeffrey Street, redeveloping other surrounding sites and creating a pedestrian link from the Royal Mile to Calton Hill. The proposals were criticised by commentators including
5002-405: The north side are generally 19th century. One of the buildings on the north side has high level carvings of an owl and pussycat, linking to the then contemporary poem The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear. Several shops retain huge timber shutters which uniquely drop below ground level when the shops are open. The doorway, roofscape and top flats of 51 Cockburn Street appear prominently in
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#17327911545915084-424: The number of chaplainries and endowments increased greatly and by the Reformation there may have been as many as fifty altars in St Giles'. In 1470, Pope Paul II further elevated St Giles' status by granting a petition from James III to exempt the church from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of St Andrews . During Gavin Douglas' provostship, St Giles' was central to Scotland's response to national disaster of
5166-454: The old quarters of many northern European cities, is made especially picturesque in Edinburgh, where the castle perches on top of a rocky crag , the remnants of an extinct volcano , and the main street runs down the crest of a ridge from it. This " crag and tail " landform was created during the last ice age when receding glaciers scoured across the land pushing soft soil aside but being split by harder crags of volcanic rock. The hilltop crag
5248-403: The original consecration. In 1322 during the First Scottish War of Independence , troops of Edward II of England despoiled Holyrood Abbey and may have attacked St Giles' as well. Jean Froissart records that, in 1384, Scottish knights and barons met secretly with French envoys in St Giles' and, against the wishes of Robert II , planned a raid into the northern counties of England. Though
5330-406: The possession of monks of the Order of Saint Lazarus . Remnants of the destroyed Romanesque church display similarities to the church at Dalmeny , which was built between 1140 and 1166. St Giles' was consecrated by David de Bernham , Bishop of St Andrews on 6 October 1243. As St Giles' is attested almost a century earlier, this was likely a re-consecration to correct the loss of any record of
5412-589: The raid was a success, Richard II of England took retribution on the Scottish borders and Edinburgh in August 1385 and St Giles' was burned. The scorch marks were reportedly still visible on the pillars of the crossing in the 19th century. At some point in the 14th century, the 12th century Romanesque St Giles' was replaced by the current Gothic church. At least the crossing and nave had been built by 1387 as, in that year, Provost Andrew Yichtson and Adam Forrester of Nether Liberton commissioned John Skuyer, John Primrose, and John of Scone to add five chapels to
5494-404: The role of vicar with a provost accompanied by a curate , sixteen canons , a beadle , a minister of the choir, and four choristers. During the period of these petitions, William Preston of Gorton had, with the permission of Charles VII of France , brought from France the arm bone of Saint Giles, an important relic . From the mid-1450s, the Preston Aisle was added to the southern side of
5576-433: The room above the north door. The tower was also used as a prison by the end of the 16th century. The Maiden – an early form of guillotine – was stored in the church. The vestry was converted into an office and library for the town clerk and weavers were permitted to set up their looms in the loft. Around 1581, the interior was partitioned into two meeting houses: the chancel became the East (or Little or New) Kirk and
5658-438: The signing of the National Covenant in February 1638, which, in turn, led to the Bishops' Wars , the first conflict of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . St Giles' again became a Presbyterian church and the partitions were restored. Before 1643, the Preston Aisle was also fitted out as a permanent meeting place for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland . In autumn 1641, Charles I attended Presbyterian services in
5740-420: The south side of the nave. In the 1370s, the Lazarite friars supported the King of England and St Giles' reverted to the Scottish crown. In 1393, Robert III granted St Giles' to Scone Abbey in compensation for the expenses incurred by the abbey in 1390 during the King's coronation and the funeral of his father. Subsequent records show clerical appointments at St Giles' were made by the monarch, suggesting
5822-452: The southern portion. Between these, the crossing and north transept formed a large vestibule. Burn also removed internal monuments; the General Assembly's meeting place in the Preston Aisle; and the police office and fire engine house, the building's last secular spaces. Burn's contemporaries were split between those who congratulated him on creating a cleaner, more stable building and those who regretted what had been lost or altered. In
5904-426: The square. The area immediately south of the church was originally the kirkyard , which stretched downhill to the Cowgate . For more than 450 years, St Giles' served as the parish burial ground for the whole of the burgh. At its greatest extent, the burial grounds covered almost 0.5ha. This was closed to burials in 1561 and handed over to the town council in 1566. From the construction of Parliament House in 1639,
5986-404: The statue was replaced by one borrowed from Edinburgh's Franciscans ; though this was also damaged when Protestants disrupted the event. At the beginning of 1559, with the Scottish Reformation gaining ground, the town council hired soldiers to defend St Giles' from the Reformers; the council also distributed the church's treasures among trusted townsmen for safekeeping. At 3 pm on 29 June 1559
6068-420: The street as seen from this side. Given that the building dates from 1761, this is evidence to Edinburgh's fondness for high-rise structures dating back to the 18th century. All closes to north and south retain the medieval street pattern. Most closes on the south side (leading to the Royal Mile ) contain remnants from the 16th century. The most impressive are Warriston Close and Advocates Close . Closes on
6150-488: The summer of 1544 during the war known as the Rough Wooing , after an English army had burnt Edinburgh , Regent Arran maintained a garrison of gunners in the tower of the church. New stalls for the choir were made by Robert Fendour and Andrew Mansioun between 1552 and 1554. The earliest record of Reformed sentiment at St Giles' is in 1535, when Andrew Johnston, one of the chaplains, was forced to leave Scotland on
6232-589: The support of William Chambers . Chambers hoped to make St Giles' a "Westminster Abbey for Scotland" by enriching the church and adding memorials to notable Scots. Between 1909 and 1911, the Thistle Chapel, designed by Robert Lorimer , was added to the church. Since the medieval period, St Giles' has been the site of nationally important events and services; the services of the Order of the Thistle take place there. Alongside housing an active congregation,
6314-507: The words of Cameron Lees , "a kind of spiritual conclave with which the state had to reckon before any of its proposals regarding ecclesiastical matters could become law". During his attendance at the Great Kirk, James was often harangued in the ministers' sermons and relations between the King and the Reformed clergy deteriorated. In the face of opposition from St Giles' ministers, James introduced successive laws to establish episcopacy in
6396-477: Was "the Collegiate Church of St Giles of Edinburgh". Even after the Reformation, the church is attested as "the college kirk of Sanct Geill". The charter of 1633 raising St Giles' to a cathedral records its common name as "Saint Giles' Kirk". St Giles' held cathedral status between 1633 and 1638 and again between 1661 and 1689 during periods of episcopacy within the Church of Scotland. Since 1689,
6478-471: Was also installed, likely at the eastern side of the crossing . In 1561, the kirkyard to the south of the church was closed and most subsequent burials were conducted at Greyfriars Kirkyard . In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots was deposed and succeeded by her infant son, James VI , St Giles' was a focal point of the ensuing Marian civil war . After his assassination in January 1570, the Regent Moray ,
6560-562: Was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel . St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox , who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation . Likely founded in the 12th century and dedicated to Saint Giles ,
6642-623: Was buried in the kirkyard in the presence of the Regent Morton . After the Reformation, parts of St Giles' were given over to secular purposes. In 1562 and 1563, the western three bays of the church were partitioned off by a wall to serve as an extension to the Tolbooth : it was used, in this capacity, as a meeting place for the burgh's criminal courts, the Court of Session , and the Parliament of Scotland . Recalcitrant Roman Catholic clergy (and, later, inveterate sinners) were imprisoned in
6724-608: Was the earliest part of the city to develop, becoming fortified and eventually developing into the current Edinburgh Castle. The rest of the city grew slowly down the tail of land from the Castle Rock. This was an easily defended spot with marshland on the south and a man-made loch , the Nor Loch , on the north. Access to the town was restricted by means of various gates (called ports) in the city walls , of which only fragmentary sections remain. The original strong linear spine of
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