Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

KIRK LOAN AND 2A CORSTORPHINE HIGH STREET, CORSTORPHINE OLD PARISH CHURCH AND CHURCHYARD INCLUDING BOUNDARY WALLS, VAULT AND GATE HOUSE, GATEPIERS, GATES AND WAR MEMORIALLB26888

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
14/12/1970
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 20030 72776
Coordinates
320030, 672776

Description

1404 burial chapel built by Sir Adam Forrester remains at E end of current building. 1429 additions made by son Sir John Forrester which gave church its basic shape. Building W formed nave, south transept, tower, inner porch. 1646 adjacent parish church demolished, stones used to form entrance porch and north transept. 1828 restoration and additions by William Burn, included extension of nave to form N aisle, small W galilee and repositioning of main door below E window of chancel. 1903-5 restoration and additions by George Henderson, included re siting of door to W end, slabbed roof and radical interior changes.

Single storey, cruciform plan church; square-plan tower; octagonal stone spire. Coursed sandstone; sandstone ashlar mouldings. Imbricated granolithic slabbed roof. Heavy angle buttresses, excluding sacristy; canted at apex; square terminal sundials; base course; cill course; finials.

W (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: 2-leaf timber door at centre of low entrance porch; round-headed stained glass window; 2 heraldic panels in gable head; skews. Stained glass and narrow splay at 2nd stage to tower; paired louvred openings at 3rd stage to all faces; crocketed finials at each corner. Octagonal spire; 3 crenellated string courses. Gabled N aisle comprises 2-light off-centre opening; central narrow splay to gable head. Central label-moulded entrance at W galilee; 2 leaf timber doors.

N (ENTRANCE THROUGH PATHWAY OFF GLEBE TERRACE) ELEVATION: central lancet arch 3-light opening at galilee to right; perpendicular tracery; triple chamfered reveals. 3 pairs of perpendicular lights to N aisle. Single rectangular mullioned window in sacristy.

S (CORSTORPHINE HIGH STREET) ELEVATION: doorway to E of entrance porch; timber door; small stained glass window at ground; leaded window at 2nd stage in tower. Central pointed arch 3-light opening; perpendicular tracery; triple chamfered reveals; flanking shields; canted shield and bird's head aligned above window apex. 3-sets of paired perpendicular lights to nave. 2 pairs of perpendicular lights to chancel; dividing buttress.

E (KIRK LOAN) ELEVATION: central pointed arch 3-light chancel opening; perpendicular tracery; triple chamfered reveals; beacon light in niche aligned above window apex. 2-light rectangular mullioned light at ground in sacristy to right; leaded single rectangular light aligned above. Steps to cellar.

INTERIOR: predominantly George Henderson, 1903-5. Stained glass, predominantly by Ballantine dated 1904-5 with exception of 3-light window in S chapel by Gordon Webster 1970 and 2 SE nave windows by Nathaniel Bryson, 1904.

ENTRANCE PORCH: carved stones to left, 1 identified as tombstone of

Sir Adam Forrester's grandson.

NAVE: twin tunnel-vaults of granolithic slabs on chamfered stone ribs; six corbels carved by Birnie Rhind with heads derived from Leonardo's da Vinci's Last Supper; foliated capitals. Pulpit, stone pillar lectern and timber furnishings all designed by George Henderson. 17th century hourglass behind lectern, one replaced bulb. Small gallery to W, opened out in 1905 restoration.

SACRISTY: projecting corbels indicate level of 2 upper chambers; window lights at ground and 1st; elaborately carved timber and glass door; altar slab; piscina.

CHANCEL: 2 recessed moulded pointed arch tombs to N wall divided by doorway to sacristy; labelstops of shield carrying angels to hoodmoulds. Effigies of Sir John Forrester and wife to W and 2nd

Sir John Forrester to E. Family shields in panels below. Reader's Chair to S wall, constructed from oak from the now-demolished Provost's house of 1550, which stood on the site of the present Corstorphine High Street Hall. Commemorative dates to Priest's Door, of 1429, 1455 and 1769. Memorial slabs to Alexander Tod (1489) and Robert Heriot (1443). Unidentified stone with floriated calvary cross. Recessed basket arch stone sedilia. Memorial tablets to Nicholas Bannatyne (1429) and George Henderson (architect of 1905 restoration) to E wall. Elaborately carved timber sedilia.

S TRANSEPT: Remains of original groining, badly damaged during the 1828 alterations by William Burn. Stone circular-plan late medieval font from Gogar Church; roughly hewn bowl. Recess with credence table; sculpted panel within by Isobel Reid; tapestry above by Dovecot Studios. Moulded pointed arch recessed tomb beneath S window; effigy of armoured knight, popularly believed to be tomb of Sir Adam Forrester who died in 1405 (armour is of design and fashion of 30 years later, so could be descendent); family shields in panels. 6 ringed stone memorial slab dated 1620; previously covered the burial vault of Watsons of Saughton.

BELL: cast in 1728 after one donated in 1577 by Sir James Forrester has 'rent in the steeple' (in the words of the Minutes).

CHURCHYARD: Many good 18th century monuments. On the S wall, a pedimented monument to Walker (1751) on which name Wm Don may be that of the sculptor.

WAR MEMORIAL: Stone memorial plaque and cross to Kirk Loan within semi-circular niche.

BOUNDARY WALLS, VAULT AND GATE HOUSE, GATEPIERS AND GATES: coped, sandstone rubble walls; low and stepped to Kirk Loan. Coped semi- pyramidal piers at Kirk Loan entrance; cast-iron gates with heraldic shields set within. Single cast-iron gateway to entrance from narrow pathway off Glebe Terrace. Coped pyramidal gatepiers at Corstorphine High Street entrance; cast-iron gates. Single storey gabled rubble gate house and vault to entrances at Corstorphine High Street and Glebe Terrace respectively.

Statement of Special Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. The history of the present church stems from the acquisition of the lands of Corstorphine by Adam Forrester from William More of Abercorn in 1347. Sir Adam obtained permission to a family chapel next to the existing church of St Mary. His son expanded the chapel in 1429 and the Collegiate Church of

St John the Baptist was formed, functioning alongside St Mary's. After the Reformation, parish worship was transferred to the Collegiate building. It is possible that the entrance porch built in circa 1646 is constructed from the remnant's of St Mary's which was demolished at that time. Despite the many alterations and additions over the centuries, much of the original medieval building remains.

The War Memorial was originally set up in Station Road beside the Station entrance in 1921. When the houses at Irish Corner in Kirk Loan were demolished in 1935 and the ground grassed, the British Legion proposed the current siting as a more suitable site for the memorial.

References

Bibliography

J Grant OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH Vol III (1883) pp115-121; PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, Vol 12 (1889-90) pp183-4;

U Selway A MID LOTHIAN VILLAGE (1890), pp9-16; THE BUILDER 01/08/1903; O Milligan CORSTORPHINE AND ITS PARISH CHURCH (1929); RCAHMS INVENTORY FOR MIDLOTHIAN AND WEST LOTHIAN (1929) pp18-22; E MacRae HERITAGE OF GREATER EDINBURGH (1947), p27; THE BUILDER 20/06/1952, p911; M Cant VILLAGES OF EDINBURGH Vol. I (1986) pp5-8; C McKean EDINBURGH (1992) p172; Gifford, McWilliam and Walker EDINBURGH (1991), pp522-524;

S Jackson CORSTORPHINE OLD PARISH CHURCH (1993); AS Cowper & MS Moncur CORSTORPHINE OLD PARISH CHURCHYARD (1995).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

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Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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