Gillis Centre

Coordinates: 55°56′06″N 3°12′02″W / 55.934924°N 3.200504°W / 55.934924; -3.200504
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Gillis Centre
Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh
DeanerySt Giles' City of Edinburgh
ParishSt. Peter's, Morningside

Gillis Centre, formerly Gillis College and founded as St Margaret's Convent and School, is a complex of buildings situated close to the city centre of

Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh.[2]

Early history

Whitehouse

The site of the present Gillis Centre was originally known as 'Whitehouse' and gave its name to the lane that runs alongside it, Whitehouse Loan. The house had many literary and academic occupants and must have had a connection with the University of Edinburgh, because it was there that some of the university's leading figures wrote various pieces of literature. Such as Principal Robertson who wrote his The History and Reign of Charles V in 1769.[3] In 1756 John Home wrote his tragedy Douglas there and in 1783 Dr. Hugh Blair wrote his famous Lectures.

St Margaret's Convent

Bishop Gillis in 1841 by Agnes Xavier Trail

In the 1830s, the

St Margaret of Scotland to the chapel. For over 150 years, until it was closed in 1986, it was known in Edinburgh as St Margaret's Convent and School and it was under the ministry of the Ursulines
.

Chapel

The chapel dedicated to

Edward Welby Pugin
(son of A.W.N. Pugin) designed the school building which was completed in 1863.

Gillis College

In 1986, St Margaret's Convent School was closed. The Ursulines moved to St Margaret's Tower, 88 Strathern Road, which was adjoining the school site, where they remained until the property was sold in 2010. St Margaret's Convent was still owned in part by the Trustees of the Bishop Gillis Trust and in part by the Trustees of St Margaret's Convent. In 1986, the seminary at

Province of St Andrews and Edinburgh. In 1993, the theological college closed[6] and the remaining students were sent to Bearsden, Glasgow, where the Scottish bishops had decided to have a National Seminary of Scotland, called Scotus College
.

Gillis Centre

1897 picture of the St Margaret Reliquary

After the college closed the complex became the Gillis Centre, the Archdiocesan offices and agencies moved into the buildings and work began on developing a conference centre with residential accommodation. The Gillis Centre offered bed and breakfast accommodation until it was closed by the Trustees of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh on 30 November 2017.[7]

The Gillis Centre provides office accommodation for various diocesan commissions, bodies and organisations. In addition, it houses the theological library from the former Gillis College. The Diocesan Pastoral Office was closed[8] by Archbishop Leo Cushley on 30 November 2017, with most of its functions being transferred to five priests who were given appointments as Episcopal Vicars.

On 16 November 2008, the

St. Margaret of Scotland that was given to the chapel was returned to St Margaret's Memorial Church in Dunfermline, Fife
.

Gallery

  • View from Whitehouse Loan
    View from Whitehouse Loan
  • View from St Margaret's Road
    View from St Margaret's Road

References

  1. ^ a b Historic Environment Scotland. "113 Whitehouse Loan Gillis College RC Chapel (Category A Listed Building) (LB30664)". Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Home - Archdiocese of Edinburgh". Archdiocese of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  3. ^ The History and Reign of Charles V (London, 1769) 4 Vols.
  4. ^ Trail, Ann Agnes History of St. Margaret's Convent, Edinburgh, the first religious house founded in Scotland since the so-called Reformation, (Edinburgh, 1886)
  5. ^ Registers of Scotland, General Register of Sasines, Midlothian, Book 20041, Folio 236, Recorded 28 March 1988
  6. ^ Gillis Centre and St Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh by David P Woods, published August 2004
  7. ^ "Scottish Catholic Observer".
  8. ^ "Message on the Reform of the Curia" (PDF).

External links