St Giles' Cathedral (), also known as the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is one of three cathedrals in Edinburgh, Scotland. The existing building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel. St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation.Gordon 1958, p. 31. The cathedral is administered by the Church of Scotland.
It was probably founded in the 12th centuryMarshall 2009, pp. 2–4.McIlwain 1994, p. 4. and dedicated to Saint Giles. The church was elevated to collegiate status by Pope Paul II in 1467. In 1559, the church became Protestant with John Knox, the foremost figure of the Scottish Reformation, as its minister. After the Reformation, St Giles' was internally partitioned to serve multiple congregations as well as secular purposes, such as a prison and as a meeting place for the Parliament of Scotland. In 1633, Charles I made St Giles' the cathedral of the newly created Diocese of Edinburgh. Charles' attempt to impose doctrinal changes on the presbyterian Scottish Kirk, including a Prayer Book causing a riot in St Giles' on 23 July 1637, which precipitated the formation of the Covenanters and the beginnings of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. St Giles' role in the Scottish Reformation and the Covenanters' Rebellion has led to its being called "the Mother Church of World Presbyterianism".
St Giles' is one of Scotland's most important medieval parish church buildings. The first church of St Giles' was a small Romanesque building of which only fragments remain. In the 14th century, this was replaced by the current building which was enlarged between the late 14th and early 16th centuries. The church was altered between 1829 and 1833 by William Burn and restored between 1872 and 1883 by William Hay with the support of William Chambers. Chambers hoped to make St Giles' a "Westminster Abbey for Scotland" by enriching the church and adding memorials to notable Scots. Between 1909 and 1911, the Thistle Chapel, designed by Robert Lorimer, was added to the church.Gifford, McWilliam, Walker 1984, pp. 103–118.
Since the medieval period, St Giles' has been the site of nationally important events and services; the services of the Order of the Thistle take place there. Alongside housing an active congregation, the church is one of Scotland's most popular visitor sites: it attracted over a million visitors in 2018.
Name and dedication
Saint Giles is the patron saint of lepers. Though chiefly associated with the Abbey of Saint-Gilles in modern-day France, he was a popular saint in medieval Scotland.Farmer 1978, p. 189.Marshall 2009, p. 2. The church was first possessed by the monks of the Order of St Lazarus, who ministered among lepers; if David I or Alexander I is the church's founder, the dedication may be connected to their sister Matilda, who founded St Giles in the Fields.Marshall 2009, pp. 3–4.
Prior to the Reformation, St Giles' was the only parish church in EdinburghGifford, McWilliam, Walker 1984, p. 103. and some contemporary writers, such as Jean Froissart, refer simply to the "church of Edinburgh".Froissart in Lees 1889, p. 5. From its elevation to collegiate status in 1467 until the Reformation, the church's full title was "the Collegiate Church of St Giles of Edinburgh".Lees 1889, p. 43. Even after the Reformation, the church is attested as "the college kirk of Sanct Geill".Lees 1889, p. 155. The charter of 1633 raising St Giles' to a cathedral records its common name as "Saint Giles' Kirk".Lees 1889, p. 204.
St Giles' held cathedral status between 1633 and 1638 and again between 1661 and 1689 during periods of episcopacy within the Church of Scotland. Since 1689, the Church of Scotland, as a Presbyterian church, has had no bishops and, therefore, no cathedrals. St Giles' is one of a number of former cathedrals in the Church of Scotland – such as Glasgow Cathedral or Dunblane Cathedral – that retain their title despite having lost this status. Since the church's initial elevation to cathedral status, the building as a whole has generally been called St Giles' Cathedral, St Giles' Kirk or Church, or simply St Giles'.Lees 1889, p. 205.
The title "High Kirk" is briefly attested during the reign of James VI as referring to the whole building. A 1625 order of the Privy Council of Scotland refers to the Great Kirk congregation, which was then meeting in St Giles', as the "High Kirk". The title fell out of use until reapplied in the late 18th century to the East (or New) Kirk, the most prominent of the four congregations then meeting in the church.Marshall 2009, p. 110.Dunlop 1988, p. 17. Since 1883, the High Kirk congregation has occupied the entire building.Marshall 2009, pp. 135–136.
Location
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland identified St Giles' as "the central focus of the Old Town."RCAHMS 1951, p. 25. The church occupies a prominent and flat portion of the ridge that leads down from Edinburgh Castle; it sits on the south side of the High Street: the main street of the Old Town and one of the streets that make up the Royal Mile.MacGibbon and Ross 1896, ii p. 419.Coltart 1936, p. 136.
From its initial construction in the 12th century until the 14th century, St Giles' was located near the eastern edge of Edinburgh.Catford 1975, p. 17.Marshall 2009, p. 3. By the time of the construction of the King's Wall in the mid-15th century, the burgh had expanded and St Giles' stood near its central point.Catford 1975, pp. 274–275. In the late medieval and early modern periods, St Giles' was also located at the centre of Edinburgh's civic life: the Tolbooth – Edinburgh's administrative centre – stood immediately north-west of the church and the Mercat Cross – Edinburgh's commercial and symbolic centre – stood immediately north-east of it.Harris 1996, pp. 213–214, 605.
From the construction of the Tolbooth in the late 14th century until the early 19th century, St Giles' stood in the most constricted point of the High Street with the Luckenbooths and Tolbooth jutting into the High Street immediately north and north-west of the church.Harris 1996, p. 605. A lane known as the Stinkand Style (or Kirk Style) was formed in the narrow space between the Luckenbooths and the north side of the church.Marshall 2009, pp. 30, 110.Harris 1996, p. 586. In this lane, open stalls known as the Krames were set up between the buttresses of the church.Catford 1975, p. 44.
St Giles' forms the north side of Parliament Square with the Law Courts on the south side of the square. The area immediately south of the church was originally the kirkyard, which stretched downhill to the Cowgate.Marshall 2009, p. 30. For more than 450 years, St Giles' served as the parish burial ground for the whole of the burgh. At its greatest extent, the burial grounds covered almost 0.5ha. This was closed to burials in 1561 and handed over to the town council in 1566. From the construction of Parliament House in 1639, the former kirkyard was developed and the square formed. The west front of St Giles' faces the former Midlothian County Buildings across West Parliament Square.Harris 1996, p. 485.
History Early years
The foundation of St Giles' is usually dated to 1124 and attributed to David I. The parish was likely detached from the older parish of St Cuthbert's.Gray 1940, p. 23. David raised Edinburgh to the status of a burgh and, during his reign, the church and its lands (St Giles' Grange) are first attested, being in the possession of monks of the Order of Saint Lazarus.Lees 1889, p. 2.Marshall 2009, p. 4. Remnants of the destroyed Romanesque church display similarities to the church at Dalmeny, which was built between 1140 and 1166. St Giles' was consecrated by David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews on 6 October 1243. As St Giles' is attested almost a century earlier, this was likely a re-consecration to correct the loss of any record of the original consecration.Marshall 2009, p. 6.
In 1322 during the First Scottish War of Independence, troops of Edward II of England despoiled Holyrood Abbey and may have attacked St Giles' as well.Marshall 2009, p. 8. Jean Froissart records that, in 1384, Scottish knights and barons met secretly with French envoys in St Giles' and, against the wishes of Robert II, planned a raid into the northern counties of England.Lees 1889, p. 5. Though the raid was a success, Richard II of England took retribution on the Scottish borders and Edinburgh in August 1385 and St Giles' was burned. The scorch marks were reportedly still visible on the pillars of the crossing in the 19th century.Marshall 2009, p. 9.
At some point in the 14th century, the 12th century Romanesque St Giles' was replaced by the current Gothic church. At least the crossing and nave had been built by 1387 as, in that year, Provost Andrew Yichtson and Adam Forrester of Nether Liberton commissioned John Skuyer, John Primrose, and John of Scone to add five chapels to the south side of the nave.Marshall 2009, pp. 9–10.Lees 1889, pp. 17–18.
In the 1370s, the Lazarite friars supported the King of England and St Giles' reverted to the Scottish crown. In 1393, Robert III granted St Giles' to Scone Abbey in compensation for the expenses incurred by the abbey in 1390 during the King's coronation and the funeral of his father.Marshall 2009, p. 11.Lees 1889, p. 21. Subsequent records show clerical appointments at St Giles' were made by the monarch, suggesting the church reverted to the crown soon afterwards.Lees 1889, p. 28.
In 1416, a pair of white stork nested on top of the building.
Collegiate church
In 1419, Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas led an unsuccessful petition to Pope Martin V to elevate St Giles' to collegiate status. Unsuccessful petitions to Rome followed in 1423 and 1429.Marshall 2009, pp. 23–24. The burgh launched another petition for collegiate status in 1466, which was granted by Pope Paul II in February 1467.Marshall 2009, p. 26. The foundation replaced the role of vicar with a provost accompanied by a curate, sixteen canons, a beadle, a minister of the choir, and four choristers.Burleigh 1960, p. 81
During the period of these petitions, William Preston of Gorton had, with the permission of Charles VII of France, brought from France the arm bone of Saint Giles, an important relic. From the mid-1450s, the Preston Aisle was added to the southern side of the choir to commemorate this benefactor; Preston's eldest male descendants were given the right to carry the relic at the head of the Saint Giles' Day procession every 1 September.Lees 1889, pp. 33–35.Marshall 2009 pp. 15–16. Around 1460, extension of the chancel and the addition thereto of a clerestory were supported by Mary of Guelders, possibly in memory of her husband, James II.Lees 1889, pp. 34–35.
In the years following St Giles' elevation to collegiate status, the number of chaplainries and endowments increased greatly and by the Reformation there may have been as many as fifty altars in St Giles'.Lees 1889, p. 48.Marshall 2009, p. 32. In 1470, Pope Paul II further elevated St Giles' status by granting a petition from James III to exempt the church from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of St Andrews.Lees 1889, p. 44.