Canongate Kirk

In 1687 James VII (II of England) chucked the Protestants out of Holyrood to convert it to a royal Roman Catholic chapel, the sort of behaviour that got him ousted from the monarchy the following year. The congregation moved to Infirmary St then to this building on its completion in 1691. From 1952 Queen Elizabeth II regularly attended when at Holyrood, and in 2011 her granddaughter Zara Phillips married former England rugby captain Mike Tindall here. Notables in its graveyard include George Drummond (1788-1866) co-founder of the New Town, poet Robert Fergusson (1750–1774), and economist Adam Smith (1723-90). Memorials also commemorate soldiers dying at Edinburgh Castle, for which this was the graveyard, and coachmen of the London-Edinburgh stagecoach, which had its terminus here.

• history
• free

Address

153 Canongate EH8 8BN

Hours

Open Sun afternoon, otherwise erratic; Services Sun 10:30

Price

Free

Website

canongatekirk.org.uk (opens in a new tab)