Old Saint Paul's

Old Saint Paul’s stands in Edinburgh’s Old Town, a 17th-century Episcopal church that broke away from St Giles’ Cathedral. Its present building, designed by William Hay and George Henderson in the Early English style, was completed in 1883. The church’s history goes back 300 years to Alexander Rose, the last bishop at St Giles’, who led his congregation to a wool store in Carrubber’s Close. Members played a part in Jacobite risings, including the 1745 campaign, and one carried news of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s victory at Prestonpans to the city. After penal laws against Episcopalians were repealed, the congregation grew and later moved to Broughton Place, leaving the name Old St Paul’s for this site. The church is recognised for its fine craftsmanship and memorials. The high altar is carved oak in neo-Norman style, topped with porphyry, and seven lamps represent the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The reredos is gilded oak, the lancet windows show the crucifixion flanked by St Paul and St Columba, and the nave roof has hammer beams with wooden gargoyles. A carved oak pulpit depicts saints and was built in 1892. The Warriors Chapel, designed by Sir Matthew Ochterlony, honours those lost in the First World War and contains the Martyrs’ Cross, once hung in the Grassmarket. Visitors find a building rich in detail and memory. The hammer-beam roof and wooden gargoyles draw the eye upward, while the gilded reredos catches the light. The Warriors Chapel holds rolls of honour from both world wars and a painting by Alison Watt. The Calvary Stair leads to a sculpture of the Crucifixion by Alfred Frank Hardiman. Below, the church hall becomes theSpace @ Venue 45 during the Edinburgh Fringe, hosting performances in the same walls where congregations once gathered.