Gillis Centre
Gillis Centre | |
---|---|
Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh | |
Deanery | St Giles' City of Edinburgh |
Parish | St. 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
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
In the 1830s, the
Chapel
The chapel dedicated to
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
Gillis Centre
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
Gallery
-
View from Whitehouse Loan
-
View from St Margaret's Road
References
- ^ a b Historic Environment Scotland. "113 Whitehouse Loan Gillis College RC Chapel (Category A Listed Building) (LB30664)". Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "Home - Archdiocese of Edinburgh". Archdiocese of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ The History and Reign of Charles V (London, 1769) 4 Vols.
- ^ Trail, Ann Agnes History of St. Margaret's Convent, Edinburgh, the first religious house founded in Scotland since the so-called Reformation, (Edinburgh, 1886)
- ^ Registers of Scotland, General Register of Sasines, Midlothian, Book 20041, Folio 236, Recorded 28 March 1988
- ^ Gillis Centre and St Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh by David P Woods, published August 2004
- ^ "Scottish Catholic Observer".
- ^ "Message on the Reform of the Curia" (PDF).