Mortuary Chapel, Royal Hospital for Sick Children facts for kids

Mortuary Chapel Murals
Artist	Phoebe Anna Traquair
Year	1885 - 1894
Medium	Oil paint on plaster
Movement	Arts and Crafts
Designation	Category A
Location	Edinburgh

The Mortuary Chapel at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh is a special building from the 1800s. It was designed by a Scottish architect named George Washington Browne. Inside, you'll find beautiful wall paintings, called murals, created by the Arts and Crafts artist Phoebe Anna Traquair.

This chapel is considered a very important historical building. It is "Category A" by Historic Scotland, which means it's one of the most important buildings in Scotland. The murals were Phoebe Traquair's first big professional art job. They are also the only ones left from about 20 art projects started by the Edinburgh Social Union, a group led by Patrick Geddes.

People at the time thought these murals were very important. In 1891, Phoebe Traquair herself wrote that she might "never do better" work.

The First Mortuary Chapel

The first Mortuary Chapel was located at the original site of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children on Lauriston Lane.

In April 1885, Phoebe Traquair was asked to decorate a small building. This building used to be a coal shed, but it was being turned into a mortuary chapel. It was quite small, only about 3 by 4 metres.

The hospital committee wanted it to be a peaceful place. It was meant for parents to say goodbye to their children before burials. As a mother herself, Traquair was happy to help with this important project.

Art and Comfort for Families

The decorations were finished in 1886. They showed themes of motherhood and hope for humanity. In those days, many children did not live to see their first birthday. Traquair wanted her art to bring comfort to parents who were sad.

Her style was inspired by old medieval books with beautiful drawings. It also used ideas from Eastern Orthodox art. She mixed real-life images with Symbolism, where objects represent ideas. One art critic in 1889 called the murals "a piece of illumination enlarged."

The Second Mortuary Chapel

In 1891, the Sick Children’s Hospital moved to a new location in Sciennes. The little chapel at the old site was no longer used. The second chapel was built as part of the new hospital's design by Washington Browne. It is a single-story building made of red sandstone. You can find it at the northeast corner of the main hospital building.

Moving the Murals

Even though the old hospital site was taken over by the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Phoebe Traquair worried about her murals. They were at risk of being slowly destroyed because the old chapel was empty.

Thanks to a request led by Traquair herself, some of the murals were saved. In 1894, they were carefully moved to the new chapel, which was built just for them. This was a very difficult job. Some parts of the murals were even moved while still attached to the bricks of the old building!

The new chapel was bigger than the first one. So, the moved murals were fixed up and new plaster was added around them. Traquair then painted more to fill the empty spaces. The new paintings used a simpler, more childlike style. Even though the styles were different, the colors made both sets of paintings look like they belonged together.

The Mortuary Chapel is still used today at the Sick Children’s Hospital. Sometimes, curtains are pulled to cover the murals. This is because the religious themes in the paintings are not always suitable for everyone.

In September 2017, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, including the Mortuary Chapel, was sold to property developers.

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