Restalrig Church

Category

Library Item

Item no

37648

Title

Restalrig Church

Artist / maker

Unknown

Engraver

James Newton

Date

1789

Size

13.2 x 18.2 cm

Type

Engraving

The text says 'this is Restalrig Church, formerly the parish church and shrine of St Triduana, unroofed and abandoned in 1560 by order of the General Assembly, when St Mary's Kirk at Leith was designated the parish kirk in time to come.'

There are records of a church on this site from 1178. James III endowed a chaplainry and built a chapel housing the shrine of St Triduana, who was said to have lived in Restalrig in the fifth or sixth century. James IV and James V made other additions to the church. Restalrig Church was destroyed in 1560 on the orders of the first General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, but the churchyard was still used for burials. After 1689, Episcopalians were not allowed to buried in city churches, so many chose the graveyard of the ruined Restalrig Church. The church was rebuilt in 1836 by William Burn, initially used as a chapel of ease for South Leith Parish Church. Restalrig became a parish in its own right again in 1912.

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Architecture > Architectural features > Arches

Architecture > Architectural features > Walls

Places > Edinburgh areas > Leith

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Religion > Religious facilities > Churches