Library Item

Corstorphine Old Parish Church

1856

Corstorphine Old Parish Church, also know as Corstorphine Collegiate Church, was built in the late 14th or early 15th century by Sir Adam Forrester and dedicated to St John the Baptist. It was constructed adjacent to an earlier church which was demolished in the 17th Century. It was extended and became a collegiate church in 1429. The church has been subject to extensive alterations during its history.

Corstorphine was originally a separate village west of Edinburgh. It has been incorporated into the city and is now one of its most significant suburbs. The Forrester Family, who built Corstorphine Castle, controlled the area's lands from the 14th to the 18th century. The Castle was dismantled in the 18th century, but its doocot, or dovecot remains. The lands were subsequently owned by the Dicks, a family of Edinburgh lawyers and merchants, and later the Dicksons. Corsorphine is now home to Edinburgh Zoo.