Description

John Henderson, 1846-7. Simple 6-bay aisless pitch-roofed Early English gothic church; single storey to Johnston Terrace, 3 storeys to rear; sham square tower to W with crenellated parapet. Lightly stugged coursed sandstone (squared and snecked to rear). Bays flanked by buttresses;

N (JOHNSTON TERRACE) ELEVATION: slightly recessed bay to outer right: timber panelled door with decorative cast-iron hinges and fanlight in shafted and hoodmoulded cusped surround with carved labelstops; 2 quatrefoil-headed 2-light windows above in crenellated towerhead. 4 stepped three-light lancets to nave. Lower, slightly recessed bay to outer left with small engaged octagonal turret in re-entrant angle; quatrefoil-headed 2-light window with hoodmould and carved label stops to chancel. Angle buttress to outer left. Bracketed eaves course and parapet.

E (VICTORIA TERRACE) ELEVATION: stepped to angle of slope. Pointed-arched window (blocked) to chancel.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: later projecting timber porch to ground at outer left, with paired lancets above lighting stair.. 4 centre bays flanked by buttresses; stepped three-light lancets lighting hall to ground, single lancets to church above. Projecting bay to outer right with projecting timber porch to ground, small paired lancets lighting stair above.

INTERIOR: collar-braced timber roof. Pointed-arched chancel with mural (see Notes) concealing blocked window, carved stone altar, timber panelling and sedilia. Pulpit corbelled out at NE: timber boarded door with wrought-iron hinges in shoulder-arched surround. Cusped aumbry in N wall with bronze door (circa 1914). Richly-carved stone font. Triple-arched gallery to rear (now blocked). Hall at lower level (lowered ceiling) with timber floor and cast-iron columns.

RETAINING WALL AND TERRACED GARDEN: ashlar-coped retaining wall and flagged terraced garden to S.

Plate tracery, small pane leaded glass and stained glass to church; plain glazing to lower floors. Greenish grey slates. Cross-finialled stone skews. Cast-iron down pipes with decorative hoppers.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building, still in use as such. Built as a church 'for the accommodation of the poor,' with school and schoolhouse attached. The first outcome of the Oxford Movement in Edinburgh, with the ecclesiological requirements of separate chancel with altar, stone sedilia and stoup, screen separating chancel and nave, pulpit entered through the wall, and font near the door. According to the Scottish Episcopal Church Directory, 'a large portion of the stones of which the walls are built were taken from the ruins of the chapel in the palace of Queen Mary of Guise on Castle Hill.' The mural in the chancel is 'Christ Enthroned' by John Busby (1959). Organ (not in original position) by James Connacher and sons (1880). Painted glass in nave by James Ballantine.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• St Columba's-by-the-Castle at Wikipedia
• St Columba's-by-the-Castle official website
• Wikidata Q7592857

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)