Cramond Parish Church, Glebe Road, Cramond, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Description

1656 with 15th century tower and subsequent additions and alterations 1701 and 1811 (Robert Burn), 1828 (William Burn), 1843 (Robert Bell), 1851 and 1868 (David Bryce), re-orientated and extended 1911 (David McArthy and James Mather); session house addition 1955. See NOTES for details of re-orientation. A-symmetrical, cruciform church with vaults at rear. Yellow sandstone rubble with polished ashlar dressings. Rubble quoins; polished, raised chamfered surrounds to openings; crowstepped gables; early 19th century Tudor-arched windows; crenellated parapet to tower. N aisle: squared and snecked grey rubble sandstone with pentagonal stair projecting to NW. Single storey, single bay vault adjoining E end: coursed yellow sandstone; polished ashlar dressings; stone-slabbed roof. Single storey session house adjoined to NE, 1955. Single storey, rectangular-plan gatehouse fronting Cramond Glebe Road: random rubble finish with polished sandstone dressings.

TOWER, E ELEVATION: 15th century; stepped 4-stage square tower. Louvred opening centred at upper stage beneath polished sandstone crenellated parapet (1811); quadripartite opening set in circular surround in plain frieze above. Sundial with gnomon set across SW angle at 1st stage. 2-leaf boarded timber door at ground in return to right; single openings in 3 stages above; quadripartite opening centred in frieze. Single windows at 3rd and 4th stages in return to left (blind at ground); quadripartite opening centred in frieze.

NAVE: 1656; crowstepped gables to E and W. Tudor-arched windows at both floors in bays flanking tower to W; large Y-traceried, gabled window breaking eaves in return to right. Stairs to boarded timber organ chamber door off-set to left of centre to E; segmental-arched window formed in door opening at ground in bay to left ; Tudor-arched window centred at 2nd stage beneath apex. Decorative tombstone monuments on left return; projecting Cramond Vault off-set to right of centre (see later).

S AISLE: lengthened 1701, widened and porch added, Robert Burn 1811. Castellated porch centred at ground comprising 2-leaf boarded timber door; advanced jambs, geometric parapet carving. Basket-arched, keystoned openings at ground in bays to left and right. Large Tudor-arched window aligned above porch; flanking single windows. 2-leaf boarded timber door centred in single storey, lean-to addition to outer right; full-height lean-to organ chamber addition set behind, James Mather, 1911.

N AISLE: widened to W 1701, lengthened 1911 (forming 2-stage, 3-bay nave). Square-headed, stone mullioned bipartite windows at ground in all bays; Tudor-arched window centred at 2nd stage; simple plate-tracery windows flanking in bays to left and right. Full-height engaged pentagonal stair tower in bay to outer right; single storey, 3-bay session house in bay to outer left.

SESSION HOUSE: boarded timber door set in roll-moulded doorpiece centred in shouldered-arched entrance to NE; Tudor-arched window in bay to right; square-headed, stone-mullioned bipartite windows in 3 bays to N (adjoining N gable).

CRAMOND VAULT: pitched slab-roofed vault projecting from E end of nave. 2-leaf cast-iron gates set in roll-moulded doorpiece at centre; embossed square ashlar panel set in raised surround above.

Small-pane leaded glazing. Figurative stained glass to most windows including "Peace", Alexander Strachan, 1939 and "Christ and Children", Abbey Studio, after 1928. Graded grey slate roof; stone slab roof above Cramond vault; various rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: mostly 1911. Cruciform galleried; pitched-pine hammerbeamed roof with timber brackets on sandstone capitals. Boarded dado rail; oak pews and pulpit with panelling and foliate carving. Font comprising octagonal white marble pedestal with carved cherub heads beneath oak surround (circa 1900). Norman & Beard organ, 1911, refurbished 1990.

GRAVEYARD: fine collection of monuments in graveyard to S and E including iron obelisk to Andrew Reoch, 1854. Pedimented ashlar gateway to enclosure behind E wall with fluted Corinthian columns, geometric frieze detailing; cast-iron railings. Fluted pilastered marble slab behind with broken architraved pediment, central inscription and stylised urn-shaped capitals. Corinthian-columned monument (Howison Craufurd tombstone) adjoining nave wall to SE comprising curvilinear pediment, flanking consoles, dentil detailing, foliate carving. Geometric monument to right comprising plain pilasters set on advanced base course; flanking urns; central inscription set in architraved panel; anthemion details to left and right of shallow pediment.

GATEHOUSE, GATEPIERS, GATES AND BOUNDARY WALL: single storey gatehouse with bipartite window set in E gable comprising roll-moulded surround, stone mullion; long and short polished quoins; scroll skewputts. Random rubble stack to W; polished quoins; cornice. Coursed sandstone circular gatepiers flanking entrance (semi-engaged to left); wrought-iron spearhead gates. Coped random rubble boundary wall encloses site. Single storey, rectangular-plan yellow sandstone toilet block to NW.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. Having become virtually ruinous by 1656, Cramond Parish church was rebuilt on the site of its mediaeval predecessor, leaving the tower as evidence of its 15th century origins. In 1701, what was then the N aisle was widened to the W and subsequently extended by James Mather in 1911 so as to form a nave. 1701 also saw the lengthening of the S aisle in order to form the Barnton vault. Over a century later in 1811, Robert Burn widened the aisle and gave it a castellated porch. The 19th century saw various additions and alterations to the church by William Burn (1828 - HR/713/1), Robert Bell (1843) and David Bryce (1851 and 1868, following a fire). The minutes of a Heritors' Meeting held on March 7th, 1868, outline a letter received from Bryce in which he suggests the removal of the gallery where the fire originated and the re-arrangement of the seating on the upper floor. All this was estimated to cost $252 (HR/713/2). In 1911, a scheme "of repair and enlargement" costing $1500 (HR/713/9), saw to the heightening of the S aisle in order to create a chancel. In 1955, a new session house was added to the NE. Robert Walker (Raeburn's skating minister) served here between 1776 and 1784. The E gallery is known as the Cramond Gallery as it was here that the Inglis family sat (see separate list entry for Cramond House). A chair set within the Cramond Gallery is said to have been that on which Queen Victoria sat in 1860. Complicated in evolution, Cramond Parish church retains significant architectural and historical interest.

External Links

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.