Lady Yester's Kirk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lady Yester's Kirk |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| 55°56′54.6″N 3°11′6.5″W / 55.948500°N 3.185139°W | |
| Location | Edinburgh |
| Country | Scotland |
| Denomination | Church of Scotland |
| History | |
| Founded | 1647 |
| Founder(s) | Margaret, Lady Yester |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Closed |
| Architect(s) | William Sibbald |
| Style | Jacobean |
| Groundbreaking | 1803 |
| Completed | 1805 |
| Closed | 1938 |
| Administration | |
| Presbytery | Edinburgh |
| Synod | Lothian |
Lady Yester's Kirk was a church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was part of the Church of Scotland. This church served the southeastern part of Edinburgh's Old Town. It was founded in 1647. The church closed in 1938 when its congregation joined Greyfriars Kirk.
The church was named after Margaret, Lady Yester, who helped pay for it. The building we see today was finished in 1805. It was designed by William Sibbald. The new church copied some parts of the first church. Lady Yester's burial place was in the first church. A special stone plaque from her grave is now at Greyfriars Kirk. After it closed, the building was sold to the University of Edinburgh. Today, the university uses it for its Estates Department.
History of Lady Yester's Kirk
Building the First Church (17th Century)
The church is named after Margaret, Lady Hay of Yester. She was a very generous person. In 1635, the town council wanted to build two new churches. They ran out of money for one of them. Lady Yester stepped in to help. She gave 10,000 merks to build the church. She also gave 5,000 merks to pay the minister.
In 1647, the council told her most of the money would be used for building. So, she promised another 1,000 merks each year for the minister.
Challenges and Changes (17th Century)
During Cromwell's time, his soldiers used the church as a place to stay. They also damaged it. In 1655, Lady Yester's got its own parish. This meant it had its own area and people to serve. A minister named John Stirling was appointed.
However, after the king returned to power in 1660, Stirling lost his job. The church was not used for regular services for a while. But the nearby town college used it for graduation ceremonies.
From 1686, French Protestants used the church. They had to leave their own country. In 1687, the church also hosted the congregation from Holyrood Abbey. They moved out in 1691. That same year, Lady Yester's parish was restarted. Thomas Wilkie became the new minister. The church remained important for the university. Professors would walk in a procession to worship there.
Growth and New Buildings (18th and 19th Centuries)
In 1762, the minister John Hyndman died. The town council chose John Drysdale as the new minister. This made some people in the church unhappy. They usually got to choose their own minister. This disagreement led some members to leave. They formed Edinburgh's first Relief congregation.
In the late 1700s, a man named Mungo Watson worked at the church. He was known for finding ways to make money. He was even drawn in a cartoon by John Kay.
By late 1803, people worried about the church building. Especially the gallery where students sat. The building was checked and immediately declared unsafe. A man named Thomas Bonnar bought the old church. He also built the new one. The new church opened on December 8, 1805. It was built just west of the old one.
There were rumors that the old church was condemned so Bonnar could make money. People thought he built the new church cheaply. They said he reused many old materials. These rumors seemed true when the new church needed a new roof by 1825. While the roof was being fixed, the congregation met at Hope Park Chapel.
_p.198_-_Lady_Yester%27s_Church,_Edinburgh_-_Thomas_Hosmer_Shepherd.jpg)
From 1806 to 1824, Thomas Fleming was the minister. During his time, the church was one of the busiest in the city. A Sabbath school was started. This happened after a riot in 1812.
After Fleming died, the town council again chose a minister. They picked John Lee. The congregation wanted Robert Gordon. This caused many people to leave. Church attendance went down. But it got much better when Archibald Bennie became minister. In 1837, the church got a new parish area. Famous people like doctor John Abercrombie and bookseller David Laing attended the church.
Final Years and Closure (19th and 20th Centuries)
Archibald Bennie and most of his church members stayed with the national church. This was during the Disruption of 1843. Bennie started private lessons for children. This became a formal school after he died in 1846. A Parochial School was also set up in 1848. Bennie also started a Female Society. Other groups followed, like a Missionary Association.
John Caird became the next minister. He later became the head of the University of Glasgow. Caird was a very popular speaker. So many students came to hear him. During his time, you needed a ticket to get into the church!
In 1860, the city's churches, including Lady Yester's, changed how they were managed. They moved from the city council to special church commissioners. Around this time, big changes were happening in the Old Town. New streets like Chambers Street were built. This meant fewer people lived in the area. So, the church's congregation got smaller.
This trend continued into the early 1900s. In 1929, the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland joined together. This meant there were too many churches in the Old Town and Southside. So, on July 3, 1938, Lady Yester's congregation joined Greyfriars Kirk.
The church building was sold to the city council. The council then gave it to the University of Edinburgh. The university uses it for its Works Department. Today, it is the main office for the university's Estates Department.
Ministers of the Church
Lady Yester's Kirk usually had one minister. This was different from some other city churches that had two. The council often appointed young ministers here. They hoped these ministers would soon move to less demanding roles. Because of this, many ministers at Lady Yester's served for a short time. Many became famous later in their careers.
The church had a strong link to the university. Three of its ministers became the head of the university. These were John Gowdie, William Robertson, and John Lee. One minister, John Hyndman, was the head of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1761. Another minister, Thomas Randall, was the grandfather of Randall Davidson. He became the archbishop of Canterbury.
Buildings and Features
The First Church Building
We don't know much about what the first church looked like. Maps from 1647 and 1742 show it as a large building shaped like a cross. The front of the church had a big, round-topped window. This window's design was copied in the new church.
Before she died, Lady Yester asked for an aisle to be added to the church. This aisle became her burial place. It's not known if her remains were moved when the old church was taken down. The church ceiling was made of wood. One person who used to worship there remembered it was painted with a picture of the Last Judgement. The church could hold 817 people.
A map from 1742 shows the church was surrounded by a large churchyard. This yard had walls around it. You could only get in through a gate on High School Wynd. From 1749, part of the churchyard was used to bury people who died at the nearby Royal Infirmary.
The Second Church Building
The second church was built between 1803 and 1805. It was designed by William Sibbald. The church looks similar to the Canongate Kirk. Its style copies the old Gothic look from the 1640s. The front of the church is made of smooth stone. It has a Dutch gable style with three sections. Each corner has small pinnacles.
Sibbald's plan also included separate small buildings on each side of the church. These faced Infirmary Street. They were originally used as shops. When the roof was replaced in 1825, the church walls were made 8 feet (2.4 meters) taller. A special stone plaque with a putto's head is still on the east wall. A hall was later built next to the church. An organ was put in the church in 1888. It was rebuilt in 1924.
Lady Yester's has been a Category B listed building since July 17, 1974. This means it's an important historical building.
Special Features and Items
In the first church, a stone plaque was over Lady Yester's grave. This plaque was moved to the new church. Then it was moved to Greyfriars Kirk after Lady Yester's closed. Another memorial stone was near the aisle entrance. A stone with Lady Yester's coat of arms was above the aisle door. In the new church, these were moved to different walls. The church also had a bust (a sculpture of a head and shoulders) of Archibald Bennie.
A large memorial plaque was also over Lady Yester's grave. This plaque was put up again in the new church's meeting room. It is in the Renaissance style. It looks like a small shrine. At the bottom, it has a skull and crossbones. The top has a broken, scrolled pediment. In the middle is the family's Crest (heraldry): a sun with rays. Below it is a banner with the family motto "LUX VENIT AB ALTO" ("light comes from on high").
The middle part of the plaque has two pillars. At the top, it shows a skull and crossbones below an hourglass. It also has wings and corn in relief (carved so it stands out). This part has banners with mottoes. "MORS PATET HORA LATET" ("death is sure, the hour is hid") is at the top. "SPES ALTERA VITÆ" ("hope of another life") is at the bottom. The plaque has a poem inscribed on it:
ITS NEIDLES TO ERECT A MARBLE TOMBE
THE DAYLIE BREAD THAT FOR THE HUNGRY WOMBE
AND BREAD OF LYF THY BOUNTY HATH PROVYDED
FOR HUNGRIE SOULES ALL TYMES TO BE DIVYDED
WORLD LASTING MONIMENTIS SHALL REARE
THAT SHAL ENDURE TIL CHRIST HIMSELF APPEARE
POS'D WAS THY LYF PREPAR'D THY HAPPIE END
NOTHING IN EITHER WAS WITHOUT COMMEND
LET IT BE THE CAIR OF AL THAT LIVE THERE EFTER
TO LIVE & DIE LIKE MARGARET LADY YESTER
WHO DIED 15 MARCH 1647 HER AGE 75
After Lady Yester's closed, this plaque was moved to Greyfriars Kirk. It is now on the south wall of the eastern part of the south aisle. This area in Greyfriars is called the Lady Yester's Aisle. It also holds Lady Yester's eagle lectern. This lectern is carved from one piece of oak wood. Lady Yester's brass memorial plaque for the First World War is also here. It lists the names of 29 men from the parish who died in the war.
The church also had four communion cups. They were given by Mr. Thomas Wilkie, a minister there, in 1708. It also had two collection basins. One was given by John Nicholson, a bookseller, in 1703. The other was for Lady Yester's Kirk in 1711.
