Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Credit – By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18394550

Canongate Kirk (kirk = church) is a Presbyterian (Church of Scotland) church located on the Royal Mile which runs between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. Members of the British royal family sometimes attend services at Canongate Kirk when they are visiting Edinburgh.

Queen Elizabeth II visiting Canongate Kirk in 2019; Credit – Photo by Rob McDougall, https://www.canongatekirk.org.uk/about/history/royal-visit/

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Zara Phillips and her father Mark Phillips arrive at Canongate Kirk

Zara Phillips, the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, married English rugby player Mike Tindall at Canongate Kirk on July 30, 2011. The reception was held at nearby Holyrood Palace.

The doric-columned portico over the entrance; Credit – By Enric – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73018490

In 1687, James VII, King of Scots (also James II, King of England) founded the Order of the Thistle and designated the Holyrood Abbey Church, where a Presbyterian congregation worshipped, to be the chapel of the new order. James ordered that money left at the disposal of the Crown by merchant Thomas Moodie should be used to build a new building, Canongate Kirk, just down the Royal Mile from Holyrood Palace. The new building was constructed from 1688 – 1691 under the Scottish architect James Smith. Architecturally, Canongate Kirk has a Dutch-style end gable and a small doric-columned portico over the entrance.

Golden cross inside a pair of antlers; Credit – By Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK – In Defence Uploaded by tm, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27383763

The roof over the entrance is now topped with a golden cross inside a pair of antlers. Originally, the royal arms of James VII, King of Scots/James II, King of England were to be placed on the roof. However as James had been deposed and his daughter Queen Mary II and his son-in-law and nephew King William III (also William II, Prince of Orange) were then on the throne, the coat of arms of the House of Orange-Nassau was placed on the roof. William III’s outdated coat of arms was replaced in 1824 with a cross and a pair of deer antlers. Those antlers were replaced with the antlers from a stag shot by King George VI in 1949 at Balmoral. The stag head and cross are the arms of the Burgh of Canongate which was established by David I, King of Scots in 1128 at the same time he founded the nearby Holyrood Abbey (Holyrood means Holy Cross). The legend is that King David I was inspired to found Holyrood Abbey after seeing a vision of the Holy Cross when attacked by a stag in what is now Holyrood Park.

The interior of Canongate Kirk is very simple as is traditional for Presbyterian churches. The windows are clear to let in light and there have been renovations over the years. In 1950, the color scheme of part of the interior changed. The pews were painted light blue, the pulpit a darker blue, and the walls white.

The Royal Pew, marked by a representation of the Honours of Scotland; Credit – By Remi Mathis – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28465791

The front pew on the east side is the Royal Pew. On top of the back of the Royal Pew is a model of the Honours of Scotland, with representations of the crown, scepter, and sword that are displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle.

Canongate Kirkyard; Credit – By Hansueli Krapf  This file was uploaded with Commonist. – Own work: Hansueli Krapf (User Simisa (talk · contribs)), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12666950

The Canongate Kirkyard, like other burial grounds in Edinburgh, is owned by the City of Edinburgh Council, and not Canongate Kirk. It was used for burials from the late 1680s until the mid-20th century. There are no royal burials at Canongate Kirkyard. However, there were reports that David Riccio, favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots who was murdered in her presence at Holyrood Palace in 1566, was reburied in Canongate Kirkyard. This is unlikely since he died 122 years before Canongate Kirk was established and it would have required the reburial of a Catholic in a Protestant cemetery. It is more likely that David Riccio rests under an anonymous gravestone in the cemetery at Holyrood Abbey which now lies in ruins.

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Works Cited

  • Canongate Kirk. 2021. A History Of Canongate Kirk. [online] Available at: <https://www.canongatekirk.org.uk/about/history/a-guided-tour-of-canongate-kirk/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
  • Canongate Kirk. 2021. History. [online] Available at: <https://www.canongatekirk.org.uk/about/history/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
  • Canongate Kirk. 2021. Kirkyard. [online] Available at: <https://www.canongatekirk.org.uk/kirkyard/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Canongate Kirk. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canongate_Kirk> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2021. David Riccio,  Favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/david-riccio-favorite-of-mary-queen-of-scots/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].