Undiscovered Scotland

 

South Leith Parish Church can be found in the heart of Edinburgh's port, Leith. It stands in Kirkgate, just beyond the Kirkgate Shopping Centre from the foot of Leith Walk and is surrounded by a large graveyard in that has an oasis-like feel in such an urban setting.

The origins of the church date back to the building of a chapel dedicated St Mary on this site in about 1483. This comprised an aisled nave, a crossing and a chancel.

In early 1560 English warships opposed to the Catholic Marie de Guise bombarded Leith and the chapel was seriously damaged during the attack. The chancel and crossing were destroyed and never replaced, a reminder if any were needed that in earlier centuries religious differences could, and all too often did, result in extreme violence.

Until the Reformation of August 1560, Restalrig Church served as Leith's parish church. It was then demolished on the orders of the General Assembly. Despite the damage, St Mary's Church, in effect now just a nave, came to be used as the parish church. This situation was formally confirmed in 1609, the same year in which a steeple was built over the west gable of the church. This was rebuilt in 1674, and demolished in 1836 because it was in danger of collapse.

By now the church was in a poor state, and in 1846 an Act of Parliament was passed which provided for its comprehensive renovation. The architect Thomas Hamilton was commissioned, and work took place between 1847 and 1848. The result was little short of a complete rebuilding of the church around the core of the 1483 structure. Hamilton's Gothic exterior has attracted few fans. The interior, however, is another matter. For a start it seems much larger than seems likely from the outside.

Perhaps the crowning glory is the magnificent hammerbeam ceiling, but the entire east end of the church is also very striking, terminating with a stained glass window flanked by organ pipes. A series of flags hang in the church. They commemorate the little known Quintinshill rail disaster on 22 May 1915. The UK's worst ever rail crash occurred on a stretch of track near Gretna Green, and 214 (or 215) were killed with nearly as many injured. Most of those killed were men of the Royal Scots Regiment who had been recruited in Leith. The flags include their company colours.