Canongate Kirk

Canongate Kirk is the parish church of Canongate in Edinburgh’s Old Town and a congregation of the Church of Scotland.

About Canongate Kirk

	153 Canongate, Edinburgh Old Town EH8 8BN
	01315563515
	Canongate Kirk Website
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Listed Under Attractions - History and Culture

The parish includes the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Scottish Parliament, and Edinburgh Castle.

The church was founded in 1688 and completed in 1691. The master mason in charge was James Smith. A plaque on the front of the church bears witness to it having been built through a large bequest from a local merchant.
“In 1688 King James VII ordained that the Mortification of Thos. Moodie, granted in 1649 to build a Church, should be applied to the erection of this structure”

Previously the residents of the Canongate had used the Abbey Church adjacent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, but King James VII ordered the construction of the new Kirk of the Canongate, allowing the Abbey Church to be converted into a Chapel for the Order of the Thistle. (The current Thistle Chapel is attached to St Giles’ Cathedral ).

Architecturally, the Kirk has a Dutch-style end gable and a curious, small doric-columned portico over the entrance. Although outwardly rectangular, the Kirk’s interior has a cruciform layout (highly unusual for a post-Reformation, pre-Victorian Church of Scotland building). The Kirk’s interior was extensively remodelled in 1882, with the inclusion of a pipe organ and a central pulpit. These unsympathetic alterations were removed in the early 1950s, along with the galleries. The resulting reordering considerably increased the levels of light; the original dignified simplicity of the Kirk was able to be appreciated once more. The Kirk was further restored in 1991 by the Stewart Todd partnership, followed by the installation of a new Danish-built Frobenius pipe organ in 1998, in memory of the late Very Rev Dr Ronald Selby Wright. This was the 1000th organ to be built by the Frobenius company.

Following the Disruption of 1843, a Holyrood Free Church congregation was formed. A church was built in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, but the building was closed in 1915 (when that congregation united with Abbeyhill United Free Church, becoming Holyrood Abbey Church, located in London Road.) The former Holyrood Free Church building was reopened as The Queen’s Gallery in 2003, to house exhibitions from the Royal Collection.

The Canongate kirkyard is the resting place of several Edinburgh notables including the economist Adam Smith, the philosopher and Smith’s biographer Dugald Stewart, Agnes Maclehose (the “Clarinda” of Robert Burns), David Rizzio, the murdered private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the poet Robert Fergusson, whose statue in bronze by David Annand stands outside the kirk gate. Bishop James Ramsay is also buried here.

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All information (whether in text or photographs) is supplied in good faith but should not be relied upon as being a statement of representation or fact.

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Upcoming Events at Canongate Kirk

Music

Calton Consort: Lamentations

22nd March 2025

Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh Old Town

Enjoy a choral programme of ancient and contemporary perspectives on love, loss, and faith from the Calton Consort at Canongate Kirk on Saturday 22nd March!

History and Culture

Panmure House

4 Lochend Close, Edinburgh Old Town EH8 8BL

Panmure House is a 17th-century townhouse located in Edinburgh's Canongate. It is the only surviving residence of renowned Scottish philosopher Adam Smith, who lived there between 1778 and 1790.

History and Culture

National War Museum

Edinburgh Castle Castlehill, Edinburgh Old Town EH1 2NG

Discover the story of Scotland at war within the walls of Edinburgh Castle with a visit to the National War Musuem.

History and Culture

Dunbar Town House Museum and Gallery

Dunbar Town House Museum and Gallery High Street, Dunbar EH42 1ER

Dunbar Town House Museum and Gallery: the Town House has been the focus of town life since the 16th century.

History and Culture

John Gray Centre

15 Lodge Street, Haddington EH41 3DX

The John Gray Centre brings together East Lothian Council’s Archaeology, Museum, Archive and Local History Services, alongside Haddington’s branch library.

History and Culture

The Georgian House

7 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh New Town EH2 4DR

The Georgian House, Robert Adam's masterpiece of urban architecture with its elegant furnished interior, is located at No. 7 Charlotte Square in the centre of Edinburgh!

History and Culture

Traquair House

Traquair House , Innerleithen EH44 6PW

Traquair is a unique piece of living history welcoming visitors from all over the world. Enjoy the house, extensive grounds, maze, craft workshops, Garden Cafe and the famous Brewery!

History and Culture

Military Museum Scotland

Legion Hall Louis Braille Avenue, Wilkieston , Kirknewton EH27 8EJ

Come and learn about the Scottish involvement in the British military from WW1 to the present day at the Military Museum Scotland!

History and Culture

The Palace of Holyroodhouse

The Palace of Holyroodhouse Canongate, Edinburgh East EH8 8DX

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland.

History and Culture

Hopetoun House

Hopetoun House Hopetoun, South Queensferry EH30 9SL

Situated on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Hopetoun is a place of outstanding natural beauty, which has Scotland's finest stately home at its heart.

History and Culture

The Real Mary Kings Close

2 Warriston's Close, Edinburgh Old Town EH1 1PG

Edinburgh's deepest secret, the Real Mary King’s Close is buried deep beneath the Royal Mile... a warren of hidden streets that has remained frozen in time since the 17th Century!

History and Culture