West St Giles' Parish Church

West St Giles' Parish Church
West St Giles' Parish Church, Marchmont
Map
55°56′22.7″N 3°11′34.3″W / 55.939639°N 3.192861°W / 55.939639; -3.192861
LocationMeadow Place, Edinburgh
CountryScotland
DenominationChurch of Scotland
History
Former name(s)Haddo's Hole Kirk (1699–1829)
New North Church (18th century–c1859)
Founded1699
Consecrated1883
Architecture
Architect(s)Hardy & Wight
StyleGothic revival
Groundbreaking1881
Completed1883
Construction cost£7,000
Closed1972
Demolished1974
Specifications
Height160 ft (48.8 m)
Administration
PresbyteryEdinburgh
Clergy
Minister(s)First: George Andrews (1699–1705)
Last: John Macdonald Rose (1966–1972)

West St Giles' Parish Church was a parish church of the Church of Scotland and a burgh church of Edinburgh, Scotland. Occupying the Haddo's Hole division of St Giles' from 1699, the church was then based in Marchmont between 1883 and its closure in 1972.

The congregation's origins are in a meeting-house on Castlehill, founded after the 1687 Declaration of Indulgence. Following the re-establishment of Presbyterianism in the Church of Scotland, the congregation occupied the north-western division of St Giles'. This was known as Haddo's Hole (or Hold) in reference to John Gordon of Haddo: a leading royalist, who was imprisoned there before his execution in 1644. When William Burn launched a major project of alterations at St Giles' in 1829, the congregation (by then also known as the New North Kirk) vacated the building, returning in 1843. With the restoration of St Giles' under William Chambers, West St Giles' departed its historic home, occupying a new church in Marchmont from 1883. In 1972, the congregation united with Grange Parish Church on Kilgraston Road in the Grange and Warrender Parish Church on Whitehouse Loan in Bruntsfield to form Marchmont St Giles' Parish Church.

Until a reallocation of parishes in 1929, West St Giles' parish was in the Old Town. Ministers including Charles John Brown (who led out the New North Free Church at the Disruption) and Robert Nisbet were notable for their active, evangelistic approach to ministry. Six ministers of the church served as moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland during their incumbencies.

The church's building stood on the corner of Meadow Place and Argyle Park Terrace in Marchmont, facing onto the Meadows. Designed by Hardy & Wight in the Decorated Gothic style, it could house 1,000 worshippers and included a prominent steeple, whose parapet quoted that of the tower of St Giles'. The building was demolished in 1974 and replaced by a care home for the elderly.