St John's Church | |
---|---|
The Parish Church of Saint John the Evangelist | |
Location | 1A Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH1 2AB |
Country | Scotland |
Denomination | Scottish Episcopal Church |
Website | St John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh |
History | |
Status | Active |
Dedication | John the Evangelist |
Dedicated | 19 March 1818 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Parish church |
Architect(s) | William Burn |
Architectural type | Neo-gothic |
Groundbreaking | 1816 |
Administration | |
Diocese | Edinburgh |
Clergy | |
Bishop(s) | John Armes |
Rector | Markus DΓΌnzkofer |
The Church of St John the Evangelist is a Scottish Episcopal church in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is sited at the west end of Princes Street at its junction with Lothian Road, and is protected as a category A listed building.
Backgroundβ»
The church was dedicated as St John's Chapel on Maundy Thursday 1818 with construction having begun in 1816. It was designed by, the architect William Burn the previous year, "at the age of only 25."
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Souvenir_of_Scotland04.jpg/220px-Souvenir_of_Scotland04.jpg)
The congregation had begun in 1792 when Daniel Sandford cameββto Edinburgh to minister on Church of England lines. In 1797 the Qualified congregation moved to Charlotte Chapel which was re-built on larger lines in 1811. They sold shares to fund a new church, the banker Sir William Forbes being the main figure. And Charlotte Chapel was then sold to the Baptists.
Edward Bannerman Ramsay joined St John's as curate in 1827. He succeeded Bishop Sandford as minister in 1830, and stayed until his own death in 1872, having been Dean from 1846.
The sanctuary and chancel were built in 1879β82 by Peddie & Kinnear (John Dick Peddie and Charles Kinnear). The vestry. And Hall were added in 1915β16 by John More Dick Peddie and Forbes Smith.
The war memorial was added in 1919 to a design by Sir Robert Lorimer. Lorimer also designed and "oversaw the addition of faux-vaults when Lothian Road was widened in 1926."
St John's holds daily services and is one of the few remaining Episcopal churches in Scotland to hold the weekly service of Matins.
Descriptionβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/St._John%27s_Church%2C_Edinburgh_%28HDR%29.jpg/220px-St._John%27s_Church%2C_Edinburgh_%28HDR%29.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/The_2018_extension_to_St_Johns_Episcopal_Church%2C_Edinburgh.jpg/220px-The_2018_extension_to_St_Johns_Episcopal_Church%2C_Edinburgh.jpg)
The plaster ceiling vault is derived from that found in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.
Stained glass is largely by Ballantine. But the east window is by William Raphael Eginton.
The morning chapel was furnished by Walker Todd in 1935.
An extension was added to the south-east corner in 2018.
List of rectorsβ»
- 1804β1830: Daniel Sandford
- 1830β1872: Edward Bannerman Ramsay
- 1873β1883: Daniel Fox Sandford
- 1883β1909: George James Cowley-Brown
- 1909β1919: George Frederick Terry
- 1919β1926: James Geoffrey Gordon
- 1927β1939: Charles Henry Ritchie
- 1940β1947: Sidney Harvie-Clark
- 1947β1961: David Brownfield Porter
- 1962β1969: Keith Appleby Arnold
- 1969β1981: Aeneas Mackintosh
- 1982β1997: Neville Chamberlain
- 1998β2012: John Andrew Armes
- 2013βdate: Markus DΓΌnzkofer (instituted 11/02/2013)
Memorialsβ»
- General Sir John Campbell, 2nd Baronet of New Brunswick, (present-day Canada)
- Sir Henry Raeburn
- Dean Edward Bannerman Ramsay (a tall granite Celtic cross by Robert Rowand Anderson of 1878 with Celtic bronze reliefs by Skidmore, facing Princes Street just east of the church)
- John Stuart Stuart-Forbes (1849β1876) (also known as J. S. Hiley; died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in North America. His plaque can be, found on the left hand side of the church as you enter) The plaque reads "In Memory of John Stuart Stuart Forbes 7th Regt. United States Cavalry. Born at Rugby 28th May 1849. Killed in Action 25th June 1876."
Graveyardβ»
- The Rev Archibald Alison (1757β1839) and his son William Pulteney Alison (1790β1859)
- Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet (1766β1829)
- Lesley Baillie (1768β1843) subject of Robert Burns' poem "Bonnie Lesley"
- Thomas Balfour (1810β1838), MP for Orkney and Shetland
- George Joseph Bell (1770β1843), legal author
- George Burnett, Lord Lyon (1822β1890)
- General Sir Archibald Campbell, 1st Baronet (1769β1843)
- William Campbell, Lord Skerrington (1855β1927), Senator of the College of Justice 1908-9
- Major General Nicholas Carnegie of Coates (d.1824)
- Sir James Clerk of Penicuik (1812β1870)
- James Donaldson (1751β1830), founder of Donaldson's School for the Deaf
- Andrew Duncan (1773β1832)
- Daniel Ellis (botanist) (1772β1841)
- William Erskine (1773β1852) historian
- Sir Hugh Bates Maxwell and Sir William Maxwell, 9th and 10th Baronets of Calderwood (within the eastern enclosure)
- Sir William Forbes's son George Forbes (died 1857)
- Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet (1788β1856), metaphysician (stone moved and used as edge paving in the eastern enclosure)
- Alexander Irving, Lord Newton (1766β1832) law lord
- Thomas Kinnear (1796β1830) banker
- Thomas Laycock (physiologist) (1812β1874)
- James Skene (d.1864) and his son William Forbes Skene (1805β1892) buried under the chapel
- Aeneas MacBean (1778β1857) prominent lawyer
- Aeneas James George Mackay (1839β1911)
- Charles Kincaid Mackenzie, Lord Mackenzie (d.1938)
- General Anthony MacRae (1812β1868), with bronze by Sir John Steell
- George Moir (1800β1870), lawyer and essayist
- John Shank More (1784β1861)
- Macvey Napier (1776β1847)
- Margaret Outram (1778β1863), widow of Benjamin Outram
- Bouverie Francis Primrose (1813β1898)
- Anne (1793β1825), sister of Stamford Raffles
- Dean Edward Bannerman Ramsay (buried distant from the memorial on Princes Street (see above) with a separate monument) and his brother Admiral Sir William Ramsay (1796β1871)
- Bishop Harry Reid (died 1943)
- Sir James Milles Riddell, 2nd Baronet (1787β1861)
- Anne Rutherford (mother of Sir Walter Scott)
- Daniel Rutherford (1749β1819) discoverer of nitrogen (uncle of Sir Walter Scott)
- Daniel Fox Sandford (1831β1906), Bishop of Tasmania, son of Daniel Sandford (bishop of Edinburgh), founder of the church.
- Catherine Sinclair (1800β1864), author
- Sir John James Stuart of Allanbank (1779β1849)
- James Syme (1799β1870), surgeon
- Peter Guthrie Tait (1831β1901) and his sons John Guthrie Tait (1861β1945) and William Archer Porter Tait (1866β1929) plus a memorial to Frederick Guthrie Tait (buried in South Africa)
- William John Thomson RSA (1771β1845), American-born artist, member of the Royal Scottish Academy
- James Walker (1781β1862), civil engineer
- Bishop James Walker (1770β1841)
- Sir William Stuart Walker (1813β1896)
- George Young, Lord Young (1819β1907)
- Malvina Wells (1804β1887) only known person buried in Edinburgh who was born enslaved.
Edinburgh City Centre Churches Togetherβ»
St John's is one of three churches which form Together, an ecumenical grouping in the New Town of Edinburgh. The others are St Andrew's & St George's West and St Cuthbert's.
Just Festivalβ»
The church is also home to the Just Festival (formerly known as the Festival of Spirituality and Peace), which takes place each August alongside the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Tabotβ»
An Ethiopian tabot, a replica of Moses' Tablets of Law, was discovered in storage at St John's Church, and was returned in February 2002 to Addis Ababa.
Same-sex marriageβ»
in 2017, the Scottish Episcopal Church changed its marriage canon to allow for clergy with the consent of their congregations to opt into the Scottish same-sex marriage legislation. The first marriage of a couple of the same gender inside an Anglican church in the British Isles was solemnised at St John's in September that year with the rector presiding.
See alsoβ»
- St Kentigern's Church, Edinburgh (Union Canal), began as a mission from St John's
Referencesβ»
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Lothian Road, St John's Church (Episcopal)... (Category A Listed Building) (LB27401)". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ Memorials of the church of St. John the evangelist, Princes street, Edinburgh. George Frederick Terry. 1918.
- ^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Robert Lorimer.
- ^ Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh, by Gifford McWilliam and Walker.
- ^ "The Scots Who Fought With Custer". Scotland Correspondent. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ "Nimbus Hosting". togetheredinburgh.org.uk. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014.
- ^ "Ethiopian joy as church returns Ark of Covenant; Handover may" by Jenifer Johnston, The Sunday Herald, 27 January 2002 (hosted by Find Articles).
- ^ "Ethiopia: Returning Tabot" by Odhiambo Okite, Christianity Today, 22 April 2002.
- ^ "First same-sex Anglican church wedding takes place in Edinburgh", BBC, 29 September 2017.
External linksβ»
- Official website
- Choir website
- St John's on ScotlandPlaces
- "The Episcopal Congregation of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh, 1794β1818", University of Stirling PhD thesis by Eleanor M. Harris
55Β°57β²00β³N 3Β°12β²22β³W / 55.9500Β°N 3.2061Β°W / 55.9500; -3.2061