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Publication Account

Date 1951

Event ID 1097493

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1097493

In 1872 a new church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity and designed to serve the N.E. part of Edinburgh, was begun on a site in Jeffrey Street. It had a hall at its S. end built out of the material of the collegiate church and in the shape of the old choir without its aisles. In the rebuilt structure, which measures 66 ft. 3 in. from E. to W. by 23 ft.6 in. from N. to S., two bays of the N. arcade of the choir open to the church while the westernmost bay is filled in with a screen wall into which has been inserted the old re-vestry door, heightened by one course. The S. arcade, also infilled, has become the S. wall. The apse at the E. end is lofty and is strengthened externally by tall, staged buttresses terminating in gabletted, crocketted finials and bearing niches for effigies on their outer faces at the level of the window-heads. The E. windows are tall, single lights with low sills and pointed heads, devoid of tracery; the W. window, which originally had transoms, is surmounted by a quatrefoiled roundel. Both the W. window and the roundel were probably in one or other of the original transepts. The S. windows, taken from the aisles and clearstoreys, have obtusely-pointed heads infilled with tracery which has been considerably restored. The N. side is windowless. The walling is of ashlar in courses from 10 to 15 inches high; most of it is polished but some stones are fine-axed. A moulded corbel-course enriched with paterae supports at the wall-head a parapet, from which project grotesque waterspouts. A miscellaneous collection of carved and moulded stones is built into the outer walls for preservation. Of these may be mentioned three triple capitals decorated with foliage and shields. Two of these are charged: A hand issuing out of the dexter flank,* thereon a falcon perching and hooded, on a chief, three mullets. The falcon is flanked by the initials I B. Although usually attributed to Buntine, this coat represents Blackhall, and it has probably been carved from a signet ring or seal since the arm should properly be on the sinister side. The third shield bears the initials I P on either side of the sacred monogram IHSM, for Jesus Maria. Attention may also be drawn to the consecration crosses, of which there are two complete examples, measuring about 13½ ins. in diameter, at the E. end of the S. wall and on one jamb of the S.E. window, while fragments of six others are traceable on the buttresses and beneath the central E. window.

Internally the bay design is two-storeyed, as was customary in the later 15th century. The piers of the arcade are lozenge-shaped on plan, their cross section comprising four sturdy, semi-circular shafts at the cardinal points ; these have broad fillets and are separated from one another by nooks. The bases are depressed with the upper part returning round the pier-members, and the lower part lozenge shaped. The capitals, which also return round the pier-members, are moulded at the top while the bellis enriched with flowing foliage. The arches are pointed and equilateral, with delicate mouldings alternately concave and bulbous. The ceiling is a fine tierceron-vault, stelliform and with richly carved bosses at the rib-junctions. Each tas-de-charge is received on a moulded and carved capital, which rests on a slender wall-shaft set out from a grotesquely carved corbel in the arch-spandrel. Above the apices of the arches runs a slender string. Elaborately carved image-brackets flank the E. window. A piscina with a tabernacled canopy and a richly carved, corbelled basin, the latter provided with a horizontal drain, has been inserted in the vestibule of the church.

FIREPLACE. A fireplace, said by some to have been removed from John Hope's house, which stood between Barringer's and Chalmer's Closes, but stated in another account to have been found in pieces while the site of the modern church was being cleared, has been inserted in the W. wall of the hall. The jambs, which alone are original, are probably to be referred to the second half of the 15th century. They are 5 ft. 6 in. in height and include a series of roll-and-hollow members built up on a semi-lozenge plan, two of the hollows being enriched with a graceful scroll. Their carved capitals, which have considerable artistic merit, are of special interest since they portray scenes of the family life of their time. The bases are bell-shaped. Their upper parts, enriched with foliage, return round the jamb members, while the moulded parts below revert to the semi-lozenge plan.

[see RCAHMS 1951 pp.38-40 for a description of the church plate, bell and altar-piece]

RCAHMS 1951

*The hand appears on one shield only.

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