Church of St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh
Encyclopedia
.jpg)
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland. It is sited at the west end of Princes Street
Princes Street
Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, and its main shopping street. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1 mile from Lothian Road in the west to Leith Street in the east. The street is mostly closed to private...
, and is protected as a category A listed building.
Background
It was dedicated as St John's Chapel on Maundy ThursdayMaundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...
1818 with construction having begun in 1816. It was designed by the architect William Burn
William Burn
William Burn was a Scottish architect, pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style.He was born in Edinburgh, the son of architect Robert Burn, and educated at the Royal High School. After training with the architect of the British Museum, Sir Robert Smirke, he returned to Edinburgh in 1812...
.
The sanctuary and chancel were built in 1879-82 by John Dick Peddie
John Dick Peddie
John Dick Peddie was a Scottish architect, businessman and a Liberal Party politician.-Biography:John Dick Peddie and his twin brother William were the second and third sons of James Peddie WS and Margaret Dick...
and Norman Boyd Kinnear
Norman Boyd Kinnear
Sir Norman Boyd Kinnear was a Scottish zoologist and ornithologist.Kinnear was the son of the wealthy Edinburgh architect Charles George Hood Kinnear and came from the same banking family as Sir William Jardine.While studying at Trinity College, Glenalmond, he worked as a voluntary assistant at...
. The vestry and Hall in 1915 to 1916 by John Dick Peddie
John Dick Peddie
John Dick Peddie was a Scottish architect, businessman and a Liberal Party politician.-Biography:John Dick Peddie and his twin brother William were the second and third sons of James Peddie WS and Margaret Dick...
and Forbes Smith.
St John's holds daily services and is unique in that it is the last church in Scotland to hold the weekly service of Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
.
Description
The plaster ceiling vault is derived from that found in the Henry VII Lady ChapelHenry VII Lady Chapel
The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, paid for by the will of Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by brass gates and a flight of stairs.The structure of the chapel is a...
in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
.
The morning chapel was furnished by Walker Todd in 1935.
List of Rectors
- James Geoffrey GordonJames Geoffrey GordonJames Geoffrey Gordon M.A. was a priest and bishop in the Church of England.-Life:James Gordon was the son of J. E. H. Gordon and Alice Mary Brandreth. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College Cambridge....
1919 - 1926 - David Brownfield PorterDavid Brownfield PorterDavid Brownfield Porter was the suffragan Bishop of Aston from 1962 to 1972. He was born in Wandsworth, London on the 10 May 1906 and educated at Hertford College, Oxford. He studied for ordination at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford before a curacy in Leeds. From 1935 he was Vicar of All Saints',...
???? - 1962 - John Armes 1998 - present
Memorials
- Sir Henry RaeburnHenry RaeburnSir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter, the first significant Scottish portraitist since the Act of Union 1707 to remain based in Scotland.-Biography:...
- Margaret Rutherford (mother of Sir Walter Scott)
- Dean Edward Bannerman RamsayEdward Bannerman RamsayEdward Bannerman Ramsay , a clergyman of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Dean of Edinburgh in that communion from 1841, has a place in literature through his Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character, which had gone through 22 editions at his death...
(a tall granite Celtic cross by Robert Rowand AndersonRobert Rowand AndersonSir Robert Rowand Anderson RSA was a Scottish Victorian architect. Anderson trained in the office of George Gilbert Scott in London before setting up his own practice in Edinburgh in 1860. During the 1860s his main work was small churches in the 'First Pointed' style that is characteristic of...
of 1878 with Celtic bronze reliefs by Skidmore) - Sir William Forbes
- James DonaldsonJames Donaldson (publisher)James Donaldson was a Scottish printer and newspaper publisher. He bequeathed a large part of his estate to the founding of Donaldson's Hospital.-Early life:Donaldson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1751...
, founder of Donaldson's School for the DeafDonaldson's CollegeDonaldson's School, in Linlithgow is Scotland's national residential and day school, providing education, therapy and care for pupils who are deaf or who have communication difficulties.-Headteacher and management team:...