Edinburgh, Canongate, St Thomas's Hospital
Chapel (16th Century), Hospital (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Edinburgh, Canongate, St Thomas's Hospital
Classification Chapel (16th Century), Hospital (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 52518
Site Number NT27SE 54
NGR NT 26715 73932
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/52518
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
NT27SE 54 2671 7393
(Name: NT 2671 7393) Site of (NAT)
St Thomas's Hospital and Chapel (NR) (1541)
OS 1/1056 plan, (1854)
St Thomas's Chapel in the Canongate is mentioned in 1500. It is said to have been founded by Gavin Crichton. The hospital is said to have been founded by George Crichton in 1541. This hospital was sometimes called the hospital of St Andrew and St Catherine, as by its original foundation, two chaplains were to serve the alters of these saints in Holyrood (Cowan 1964). Patronage of the hospital fell to the crown in 1582; in 1617 it was ordered to be repaired and in that year was given to the burgh of Canongate, who passed it to the church session. It remained in their possession until 1768 when it was removed, and houses erected on its site, which was pointed out by several authorities in 1852. (See also NT27SE 42)
Name Book 1852; RCAHMS 1951; D E Easson 1957; I B Cowan 1964.
No trace of this building remains.
Visited by OS (J L D) 29 December 1953.
Publication Account (1951)
121. Hospital of St. Thomas, Watergate.
According to Maitland (1), who had evidently had access to the charter, this hospital was founded in 1541 by George Crichton, Bishop of Dunkeld and previously Abbot of Holyrood, for the maintenance of two chaplains and seven poor folk. In 1582 its patronage fell to the Crown through the forfeiture of Robert Crichton, another bishop of the same see. In 1617 the Privy Council decreed (2) that the "auld chappell" was to be repaired before the king's visit to Holyrood, as it was "decayit" and formed an eyesore in the close vicinity of the palace
RCAHMS 1951
(1) History, pp. 154 f. (2) R.P.C., xi, pp. 40 f.
Publication Account (1981)
The pre-Reformation chapel and hospital of St.Thomas stood near the Abbey Close. It was reputedly founded in 1541 by George Crichton. Bishop of Dunkeld, and was repaired in 1617 for James Vi's visit (RCAM, 1951, 184).
Information from ‘Historic Edinburgh, Canongate and Leith: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1981).
