Reid Memorial Church

The Reid Memorial Church stands in Edinburgh’s Blackford district, a stone-built Arts and Crafts Gothic building completed in 1933. Its cruciform plan and square tower sit on a triangular plot framed by West Savile Terrace and Blackford Avenue, a steep slope rising above the south side. The architect Leslie Grahame Thomson drew on mediaeval proportions, giving the interior cathedral-like scale. A cloister court to the east links vestries, a session house, a hall and the church officer’s house around a quiet garden. The chancery windows hold stained glass by James Ballantine showing the Nativity, Crucifixion and Ascension. The church’s history begins with the 1843 Disruption, when ministers left the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church. After William Crambe Reid’s 1921 bequest funded the building, the congregation moved from New College at the Mound in 1935. The first service was led by Rev. J Marshall Robertson on 6 January that year. Rev. Alex McAspurren served from 2019 until the final service on 28 December 2025, when the congregation merged with Marchmont St Giles to form Blackford and Grange Parish Church. Inside, the nave and side aisles lead to a square tower in the south-east corner. Buttresses rise above the window line, and tracery decorates the side windows. The organ, built by Rushworth and Dreaper, stands at the west end. Outside, Blackford Avenue climbs steeply past the church’s south front, while West Savile Terrace borders the north. The building was listed category A in 1974 for its architectural importance.