St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh (Episcopal)

The cathedral was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and the foundation stone was laid on 21 May 1874 by the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, whose family had been supportive of Scottish episcopacy over the previous hundred years. Inside the stone was placed a bottle containing a copy of the trust deed, the Edinburgh Post Office Directory, Oliver and Boyd's Almanac, newspapers and coins. The cathedral's builder was G. W. Booth and the clerk of works was Edwin Morgan.[1]

St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral has four main doors: the west, east, north and south doors. The cathedral's main entrance is the ornate west entrance, from Palmerston Place, which features Saint Peter and the key to the Kingdom of Heaven.

In preparation for the opening of the cathedral a congregation had been formed to worship in a temporary iron church erected on the site now occupied by the Song School. Beginning on 26 May 1876, it was ministered to by the dean, James Montgomery, and two chaplains, and grew rapidly. The nave of the cathedral was opened on 25 January 1879 and from that day, daily services have been held in the cathedral. The cathedral was consecrated on 30 October 1879 in the presence of about 200 clergy from around the country.[6]

The twin spires at the west end, known as "Barbara" and "Mary" after the Walker sisters, were not begun until 1913 and completed in 1917. The architect for these was Charles Marriott Oldrid Scott, Sir George's grandson.[7]

The reredos is designed by John Oldrid Scott and sculpted by Mary Grant.[8] The critic Sacheverell Sitwell condemned the design as "peerless for ugliness, unless it be for its own sister, Scott's chapel of St John's, at Cambridge".[9]

St Mary's Cathedral is the only cathedral in Scotland to maintain a tradition of daily choral services, for most of the year, with choristers drawn from its own choir school.

It was the first cathedral in Great Britain to employ girls in the treble line as well as boys, in 1978, when Dennis Townhill was organist and choir master. In 2005, St Mary's Cathedral became the first cathedral in the Anglican tradition to have a female alto singing in daily services.

The Song School was built in 1885. It was designed by John Oldrid Scott. It provided St Mary's choir with a rehearsal space which the choir use for their daily practice. It houses a second Father Willis organ (1829). The Song School walls are ornately decorated by the Irish-born artist Phoebe Anna Traquair. Guided tours of the Song School are available, at certain times during the year.

St Mary's Music School was founded to educate its choirboys. It continues to educate choristers of the cathedral and is now a separate specialist music school open to all pupils.[10]

There are ten original bells in the central tower of the cathedral hung for change ringing, with two further bells which have been added more recently. They were the gift of the first dean of St Mary's, James F. Montgomery. The bells were all cast by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough to weight ratios defined by Lord Grimthorpe who was a leading bell designer of his day. This is one of only a few complete Grimthorpe rings still in existence. The tenor bell weighs 41 cwt.[11] The bells were dedicated on 29 October 1879.[12]

St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral (Venue 91) hosts classical concerts, coffee concerts, lunchtime recitals, art events and exhibitions, during the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

St Mary's also has an active calendar of concerts, charity concerts, events and exhibitions throughout the year.

T. H. Collinson

• 1878 Thomas Henry Collinson
• 1929 Robert Head
• 1958 Eric Parsons
• 1961 Dennis Townhill
• 1991 Timothy Byram-Wigfield
• 1999 Matthew Owens
• 2005 Simon Nieminski
• 2007 (to current day) Duncan Ferguson (Master of Music & Organist)

James Montgomery effigy (1902)

• Captain James Dundas V.C. (1842–1879)
• General Sir Alexander Frank Philip Christison Bt. (1893–1993), erected by the Burma Star Association
• Soldiers of the Royal Scots killed overseas 1857–1870
• Reclining marble effigy of James Francis Montgomery (1902) by James Pittendrigh Macgillivray.
• Barbara and Mary Walker, the philanthropists who funded the church (see above)

The war memorial is by Pilkington Jackson (1920).

The Lorimer rood cross was designed as part of the National War Memorial, and completed by Sir Robert Lorimer in 1922. It is positioned high aloft the nave altar, unmissable as eyes lift to view the high altar, or the east lancet windows beyond. It is a striking figure of Christ crucified on a background of Flanders poppies and decorated with golden winged angels.

Sir Walter Scott's pew

Sir Walter Scott’s pew moved to the cathedral in 2006. Its first location was in St George's Church on York Place and was then moved in 1932 to St Paul's Church across the road when the two congregations amalgamated, and the latter building became St Paul's and St George's.[14]

Raised a Presbyterian in the Church of Scotland where he was ordained as an elder, in adult life he also adhered to the doctrine of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Projections of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi's Millennium Window onto pillars in the Resurrection Chapel of the cathedral

The cathedral is home to a stained-glass window reworked as an artwork in the Modern Art genre for year 2000 by Eduardo Paolozzi who was born in Leith. The glasswork consists of a large rose window with three lancet windows below, in vibrant colours of glass which are designed to project onto stonework inside the cathedral on bright days.

It is visible from the south side of St Mary's from Bishop's Walk but is best viewed from inside with the light behind, from either the Resurrection Chapel on the south side, or beside the ornate wooden casing and pipework of St Mary's ‘Father Willis’ organ on the north side.

The south grounds of the cathedral are accessed from Bishop's Walk or from the south doors in the Resurrection Chapel when these stand open.

A prayer labyrinth designed by artists connected with the cathedral has been carved and sown with wild flowers, with help from others in the congregation of St Mary's. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth is a single continuous route, from entry point to centre. The prayer labyrinth frees you to think your own thoughts or prayers for others, as you follow the path, edged by wild flowers; to attract insects.

• Sitwell, Sacheverell (1945). British Architects and Craftsmen: A Survey of Taste, Design and Style during Three Centuries, 1600 to 1830. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd. OCLC 1017451740.