The Parish Church of St Cuthbert from Edinburgh Castle

The Parish Church of St Cuthbert is a congregation of the Church of Scotland within the Presbytery of Edinburgh. The church building is situated off Lothian Road in central Edinburgh at the foot of the castle, well below the level of Princes Street, surrounded by its churchyard. It was throughout the 19th century a fashionable church preferred by the rich burghers of the developing New Town.

A chapel dedicated to St Cuthbert is first mentioned in the 8th century. It is believed a church has definitely stood on the same site as currently used since 850 AD, making it Edinburgh's oldest building in terms of foundation. A mediaeval St. Cuthbert's church is mentioned in 1127 (possibly rededicated by St. Margaret). The parish boundaries of the church were somewhat eccentric, encompassing outlying villages such as Stockbridge and Canongate (originally a separate burgh distinct from Edinburgh) but oddly also taking in Edinburgh Castle (resulting in many soldier burials over the centuries. After the Scottish Reformation the long nave, with a staged tower in its south flank, became the 'Little Kirk', and the choir was submerged in a mass of additions of which one - the Nisbet of Dean vault of 1692 - survives on the north side.

Photo 1180, May 2011