Church of St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh

Updated on Dec 31, 2023

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Phone +44 131 229 7565

Address Princes St, Edinburgh EH2 4BJ, UK Burials Daniel Sandford, David Calderwood, George Forbes Similar St Cuthbert's Church - E, St Andrew's and St Ge, Charlotte Chapel, St Mary's Cathedral - Edinburgh, Waldorf Astoria Edinburg

The Church of St John the Evangelist is a Scottish Episcopal church in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is sited at the west end of Princes Street, and is protected as a category A listed building.

Background

It was dedicated as St John's Chapel on Maundy Thursday 1818 with construction having begun in 1816. It was designed by the architect William Burn the previous year, at the remarkable age of only 25.

The congregation had begun in 1792 when Daniel Sandford came to Edinburgh to minister on Church of England lines. In 1797 the Qualified congregation moved to Charlotte Chapel which was re-built on larger lines in 1811. They sold shares to fund a new church, the banker Sir William Forbes being the main figure, while Charlotte Chapel was sold to Baptists.

Edward Bannerman Ramsay went to St John's as curate in 1827. He succeeded Bishop Sandford as minister in 1830, and stayed till his death in 1872, being dean from 1846.

The sanctuary and chancel were built in 1879–82 by John Dick Peddie and Norman Boyd Kinnear. The vestry and Hall in 1915 to 1916 by John Dick Peddie and Forbes Smith.

St John's holds daily services and is unique in that it is the last church in Scotland to hold the weekly service of Matins.

Description

The plaster ceiling vault is derived from that found in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

Stained glass is largely by Ballantine, but the east window is by William Raphael Eginton.

The morning chapel was furnished by Walker Todd in 1935.

List of rectors

1804–1830: Daniel Sandford

1830–1872: Edward Bannerman Ramsay

1873–1883: Daniel Fox Sandford

1883–1909: George James Cowley-Brown

1909–1919: George Frederick Terry

1919–1926: James Geoffrey Gordon

1927–1939: Charles Henry Ritchie

1940–1947: Sidney Harvie-Clark

1947–1961: David Brownfield Porter

1962–1969: Keith Appleby Arnold

1969–1981: Aeneas Mackintosh

1982–1997: Neville Chamberlain

1998–2012: John Andrew Armes

2013–date: Markus Dünzkofer (inducted 11/02/2013)

Memorials

General Sir John Campbell, 2nd Baronet of New Brunswick, Canada

Sir Henry Raeburn

Dean Edward Bannerman Ramsay (a tall granite Celtic cross by Robert Rowand Anderson of 1878 with Celtic bronze reliefs by Skidmore, facing Princes Street just east of the church)

Graveyard

Rev Archibald Alison and his son William Pulteney Alison

Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet

Lesley Baillie subject of Robert Burns' poem "Bonnie Lesley"

Thomas Balfour (1810–1838), MP for Orkney and Shetland

George Joseph Bell (1770–1843), legal author

General Sir Archibald Campbell, 1st Baronet (1769–1843)

William Campbell, Lord Skerrington (1855–1927), Senator of the College of Justice 1908-9

Sir James Clerk of Penicuik (1812–1870)

James Donaldson (1751–1830), founder of Donaldson's School for the Deaf

Andrew Duncan (1773–1832)

Daniel Ellis (botanist) (1772–1841)

Sir William Forbes's son George Forbes (died 1857)

Prof Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet (1788–1856), metaphysician (stone moved and used as edge paving in the eastern enclosure)

Prof Thomas Laycock (physiologist) (1812–1874)

General Anthony MacRae (1812–1868), with bronze by Sir John Steell

Sir Hugh Bates Maxwell and Sir William Maxwell, 9th and 10th Baronets of Calderwood (within the eastern enclosure)

George Moir (1800–1870), lawyer and essayist

John Shank More (1784–1861)

Macvey Napier (1776–1847)

Margaret Outram (1778–1863), widow of Benjamin Outram

Dean Edward Bannerman Ramsay (buried distant from the memorial on Princes Street (see above) with a separate monument)

Bishop Harry Reid (died 1943)

Anne Rutherford (mother of Sir Walter Scott)

Daniel Fox Sandford (1831–1906), Bishop of Tasmania, son of Daniel Sandford (bishop of Edinburgh), founder of the church.

Catherine Sinclair (1800–1864), author

Prof James Syme (1799–1870), surgeon

William John Thomson (1771–1845), American-born artist, member of the Royal Scottish Academy

James Walker (1781–1862), civil engineer

Bishop James Walker (1770–1841)

George Young, Lord Young (1819–1907)

Edinburgh City Centre Churches Together

St John's is one of three churches which form Together, an ecumenical grouping in the New Town of Edinburgh. The others are St Andrew's & St George's West and St Cuthbert's.

Just Festival

The church is also home to Just Festival (formerly known as the Festival of Spirituality and Peace) which takes place each August alongside the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

References

Church of St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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