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St Cuthbert’s Great War Memorial Chapel, Edinburgh
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Adam Brown
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)

PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:34 pm    Post subject: St Cuthbert’s Great War Memorial Chapel, Edinburgh Reply with quote

St Cuthbert’s Church of Scotland
Location: Lothian Road.
Entrance to churchyard possible from Princes Street, Lothian Road, West Princes Street Gardens and King’s Stables Road.
OS Ref: NT 248 736
Multimap Aerial View
Latitude: 55:56:59N (55.94973)
Longitude: 3:12:19W (-3.20522)

St Cuthbert’s is one of Edinburgh’s grandest churches. It occupies a prime site in the centre of Edinburgh at the West End of Princes Street Gardens but it is set back from the road and is partially hidden by St John’s Episcopal Church so surprisingly for its size it doesn’t really stand out fom the nearby roads. It's better to see it from the Gardens



After the Great War the church chose to create a memorial chapel in an old part of the church. The present church is said to be the sixth on the same site. The chapel was built in the vestibule of the old church demolished in the 1890s, and the South window certainly looks like a doorway.



Built in 1921, it’s at the West end of the church and as you enter the church doors it is on your left hand side. It’s not obvious at first because the doors are usually locked. You’ll have to ask one of the very helpful volunteers on duty to unlock it for you if you want to see it.



As you see here the chapel is below the ground level of the present church.






I don’t know how you would describe this chapel – Romanesque or Byzantine? It has marble floors and walls and a gilded tile apse. The names are all inset into the marble walls in lead lettering.

On the East wall just beside the steps is small recess which holds the roll of honour. Unfortunately the volunteers on duty didn’t have a key to open the doors but one of the volunteers, a very helpful lady called Joan, confirmed that it does contain extra information such as ranks and units and the Roll is on display on Remembrance Day.



Last edited by Adam Brown on Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Adam Brown
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)

PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Joan explained how the chapel was built. Instead of fundraising in the normal way where people contributed to a pot of money collected by a committee, the price of each item of the chapel was itemised and then everyone in the congregation could pay for something which they could afford.

Each tile and letter of church architect Peter MacGregor Chamber’s design had a price. The lead lettering used in the names was 1s 6d per character for example.

This way anyone from a rich or poor background could feel personally involved and when they visited the chapel they could see their contribution in front of them.
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Adam Brown
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)

PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

At the North end of the chapel is the chancel with a gold mosaic apse. It contains a small communion table with a St Cuthbert’s Cross on the front panel (which you can see on one of the photogaphs above). Above it is a stained glass window of the crucifixion.





On the South window is the life of St Cuthbert in glass.



Both are the work of Douglas Strachan and are from 1922. The St Cuthbert window is a cross with three scenes. On the left is St Cuthbert as a boy, as a shepherd in the Lammermuir Hills. On the right there is a scene of him as a hermit on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast. In the middle it shows him in the robes of Bishop of Lindisfarne.

You can see clearer images of the windows as well as shots of the other stained glass windows in the church on the church’s own website here:

http://www.st-cuthberts.net/sglass.php
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Adam Brown
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In each of the four corners of the chapel are marble representations of the
the Evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They are shown as their winged symbols

St. Matthew as an angel



St. Mark as a lion



St. Luke as an ox



St. John as an eagle

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Adam Brown
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

At each side of the chancel are two painted tiles. On the right it looks like St George and on the left is an angel. Joan didn’t know who the angel represented but the figure is carrying lillies which I belive identintifies him as the Archangel Gabriel.





Other tiles around the walls show a St Andrew’s cross and a Celtic cross





This cross didn’t photograph that well, I think it is made of mother of pearl and it actually looks a bit out of place where it is. Joan joked that it was someone’s spare teapot stand which they had donated instead of cash.
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Adam Brown
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Above the marble walls are four laurel wreaths on the plaster ceiling with a biblical inscription on a scroll under each one. There is also a dedication plaque with another scoll.



To the glory of God and in memory of the men of St Cuthbert's who fell in the war MCMXIV - MCMXVIII
This chapel is dedicated

Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends

Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth for evermore.



This God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death



Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty: They shall behold the land that is very far off



Whether we live, therefore, or die we are the Lord's



He asked for life of thee and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
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Adam Brown
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And here are photographs of the names. These are only the names for the Great War. The Second World War names are remembered on a memorial doorway into the nave of the church.

One hunded and fifty seven men and one woman.





















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Adam Brown
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Even though the chapel was locked you can see from the chairs, piano and hymn book stand it is still in regular use. In the church’s guidebook (a very reasonably priced £2.50) it says it is used by the minister and elders to prepare for communion. It is also used for small private ceremonies such as baptisms and weddings.

In fact one of the most famous weddings in the church took place in this chapel. In 1930 Agatha Christie arrived in Edinburgh for her second marriage. Some accounts of the event say she was married in St Columba’s by the Castle but she was actually married in St Cuthbert’s War Memorial Chapel. Apart from St Cuthbert’s being close to both Waverley and Caledonian railway stations, Christie’s secretary had been a member of the congregation of St Cuthbert’s. The volunteers at the church believe that may help explain why Christie chose their church for her wedding.

I hope to go back to visit the chapel when it will be possible to see the Roll of Honour. In the mean time if you are in Edinburgh and at the West End I’d recommend a visit to St Cuthbert’s. It’s a lovely big nineteenth century Romanesque church with some cracking decoration. There’s even a Tiffany glass war memorial window on the upper floor. My daughters sing in the main church twice a year with their youth choir and it’s a treat to listen to them sing in such a marvellous location.
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Adam Brown
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)

PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The one female listed on the walls is Nurse Helena Bennet who died just before the end of the war. Here are her CWGC details:

BENNET, HELENA STEWART
Initials: H S
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Staff Nurse
Regiment/Service: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Date of Death: 18/10/1918
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: H. 583.
Cemetery: ARBROATH WESTERN CEMETERY

Derek ‘Delboy’ Robertson has posted her grave on the Scottish War Graves Project in Arbroath Western Cemetery

Thanks

Adam
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David McNay
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great set of pictures.
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john burnett



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PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:49 am    Post subject: St Cuthberts Reply with quote

Superb photos. I must have passed that church 100's of times when I lived in Edinburgh. It just shows what treasures are still out there.
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Adam Brown
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for your kind comments gents, there was certainly plenty to photograph.

I think you've used the right word John - treasure.

Having the time to have a good look round the chapel and see all the features means I'm going to have a good look at other church memorials too to see if there are any small references to the Evangelists or angels which might easily be overlooked at first glance.

Thanks

Adam
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ADP



Joined: 13 Jun 2008
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Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another view of St Cuthbert's Church.


Taken 28-Apr-2001 from Edinburgh Castle.

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ADP



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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From The Scotsman Monday 12 November 1923.

    ST CUTHBERT'S CHURCH ROLL OF HONOUR

    At the Sunday evening service in St Cuthbert's Parish Church, Edinburgh, there was dedicated a roll of honour in the form of an exquisitely bound quarto volume, every parchment page of which had been lettered and illuminated. A great number of names is on the roll, which is Celtic in design, the names being in a modified form of old Celtic script, easily read. The book is to be kept in the memorial chapel at St Cuthbert's. In dedicating it, the Rev. Dr. R. H. Fisher said that on the walls of their chapel were the names of the men who gave their lives in the Great War. It would be unfair to forget the large number who were mercifully preserved from death suffered intolerable hardships, were exposed to imminent dangers, and passed days and nights of nerve-wracking anxiety, although by God's mercy their lives were preserved. Therefore it was a pride to have a record of their names to be kept as a constant possession. Through the generosity of a member of the congregation, Mr John Herdman, Southwood, Murrayfield Road, that book of remembrance had been provided. Dr Fisher added that the work of illumination had been done by Miss Helen Lamb, Dunblane, to whose tender and affectionate artistry, he said, a tribute was due.

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anne park
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 12:22 pm    Post subject: 2nd Lt John Ronald Seth Pringle-Pattison Reply with quote

John Ronald Seth Pringle-Pattison 2nd Lt 2nd Gordon Highlanders Killed in Action F & F 05-Sep-16 Son of Professor Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison & Eva Seth Pringle-Pattison, 16 Churchhill, Edinburgh. Officers Book page 167. Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval Fr 0402 Plot II Row A Grave 4 St Cuthbert's Edinburgh 2001 Nov Photo taken
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