St Paul's Parish Church, Edinburgh
| St Paul's Parish Church | ||
|---|---|---|
Style Neoclassical | | |
| Completed | 1836 | |
| Closed | 1942 | |
| Demolished | 1980 | |
| Administration | ||
| Presbytery | Presbytery of Edinburgh | |
| Clergy | ||
| Minister(s) | First: Robert Elder Last: John Bain | |
St Paul's Parish Church was a parish church of the Church of Scotland located in St Leonard's, Edinburgh, Scotland. Its building served as a church between 1836 and 1942 before being demolished in 1980.
St Paul's was founded in 1836 as part of the Church of Scotland's Church Extension Scheme to serve the expanding industrial neighbourhood of St Leonard's. At the
History
Foundation and Disruption
St Paul's Church was built as part of the
Construction had been largely funded by a donation of over £2,000 from Agnes Hunter of Glencorse. Hunter's donation meant the church belonged to the congregation rather than the Church of Scotland and also meant that it was largely free of construction debt. At the Disruption, the congregation was, therefore able to claim the buildings for the new Free Church.[3][4] The Court of Session allowed the congregation to remain on the condition it refunded the Church of Scotland a £300 grant.[5][6]
Later years
Elder was called to minister at Rothesay in 1847 and was succeeded by William Maxwell Hetherington, whose Sunday night lectures on Old Testament history often drew large crowds to the church.[7] In 1851, during Hetherington's incumbency, congregational halls became the site of the school attached to the church.[8] At the departure of Hetherington's successor, George Brown, in 1876, the school had a roll of 500 pupils.[8] After the Edinburgh School Board took over management of the school in the 1870s, the halls were occupied solely for congregational use.[9][10] In 1898, the church's first organ was installed.[11] In 1900, the congregation, along with most of the Free Church, joined the United Free Church in 1900 before rejoining the Church of Scotland in 1929.[2]
Post-ecclesiastical use
After the death in 1942 of St Paul's last minister, John Bain, the congregation began negotiations to unite with the nearby congregation of Newington East.[12][13] After the congregations united to form St Paul's Newington on 4 October 1942, the St Paul's buildings were leased to Edinburgh Corporation for use as an annexe to the nearby James Clark Technical School; although the congregation retained use of the halls. In 1948, the council converted the church into the Cygnet Theatre. The theatre had ceased to function by 1954, when the church was again being used by James Clark Technical School and by Preston Street School. In 1958, the building was sold to a private buyer before being demolished in 1980 to make way for St Leonard's Police Station.[14][15]
Ministers
The following ministers served St Paul's Parish Church (1836–1843 and 1929–1942); St Paul's Free Church (1843–1900); and St Paul's United Free Church (1900–1929):[3][16][13][17]
- 1838–1847 Robert Elder
- 1848–1857 William Maxwell Hetherington
- 1857–1873 George Brown
- 1874–1876 Andrew Ryrie
- 1876–1913 William Meek Falconer
- 1913–1925 Herbert Francis Falconer
- 1926–1942 John Bain
Building and plate
The church was a squat neoclassical building with an Italianate bell tower.[18] The architect was George Smith.[19]
At the union of the congregations, St Paul's communion plate was donated to St Andrew's Church, Malta, which had lost its plate in the bombing of the island.[20]
References
Citations
- ^ a b Bain 1936, p. 6.
- ^ a b Dunlop 1988, p. 70.
- ^ a b Ewing 1914, ii p. 11.
- ^ Dunlop 2020, p. 40.
- ^ Bain 1936, pp. 6-7.
- ^ Scott 1915, p. 188.
- ^ Bain 1936, pp. 7-10.
- ^ a b Bain 1936, p. 11.
- ^ Bain 1936, pp. 12-13.
- ^ Pinkerton 2012, p. 127.
- ^ Bain 1936, p. 13.
- ^ Pinkerton 2012, p. 128.
- ^ a b Lamb 1961, p. 41.
- ^ Pinkerton 2012, pp. 140-141.
- ^ Dunlop 1988, p. 75.
- ^ Lamb 1956, p. 20
- ^ Dunlop 1988, pp. 70-71.
- ^ Pinkerton 2012, p. 124.
- ^ "St Paul's Church, Edinburgh, Scotland". scottisharchitects.org.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ Pinkerton 2012, p. 141.
Bibliography
- Bain, John (1936). St Paul's Church, Edinburgh: 1836-1936. Hugh Paton & Sons.
- Dunlop, Ian G. (1988). The Kirks of Edinburgh: 1560–1984. Scottish Record Society. ISBN 0902054104.
- Ewing, William (1914). The Annals of the Free Church of Scotland. T. & T. Clark.
- Lamb, John Alexander
- The Fasti of the United Free Church of Scotland: 1900-1929. Oliver and Boyd. 1956.
- Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation: Volume IX: Ministers of the Church from the Union of the Churches, 2nd October 1929, to 31 December 1954. Oliver and Boyd. 1961.
- Pinkerton, Roy M.
- Kirk o' Field and the Churches of Edinburgh's South Side. J Thomson Colour Printers. 2012.
- Threads in a Tapestry: The Greyfriars Congregations. ClaroPrint. 2020.
- Scott, Hew
- Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation (New Edition): Volume I: Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. Oliver and Boyd. 1915.
- Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation: Volume VIII: Ministers of the Church from the Date of Publication of Volumes I-VII, 1914-1928, to the Union of the Churches, 2nd October 1929, and Addenda and Corrigenda 1960-1949. Oliver and Boyd. 1950.