Church Overview

This remarkable cruciform kirk, with its distinctive 15th century tower, dates mainly to 1656 when the medieval church on this important site above the River Almond was rebuilt. It is built on the site of a Roman Fort believed to have been established in the year 142, originally called Caer Amon, or the “fort on the river. A Christian community is believed to have become established on the site in the 6th century, converting the central “Principia” building of the old fort into their first church, which was dedicated to St Columba.

The current building has undergone a number of further alterations and reconfigurations since the 17th century, beginning with the lengthening of its south aisle, to form the Barnton Vault, and the widening of its north aisle in 1701. In 1811, prominent Scottish architect Robert Burn added the crenelated battlement to the medieval tower and the kirk’s castellated porch. In 1828, Robert’s even more famous son William Burn carried out further internal works and then, in 1843, architect Robert Bell was contracted to make more changes. In 1851 and then again in 1868, following a fire that began in one of its old wooden galleries, architect David Bryce, who had trained under William Burn, reconfigured the the layout of the interior of the church.

The most significant reconstruction inside the church occurred in 1911-12, overseen by architect James Mather, who was also a member of the congregation. Works included the widening and extension of the north aisle to form the three bay nave and the heightening of the south aisle to create a chancel. Mather’s scheme also witnessed the construction of the beautiful pitched-pine hammer-beamed roof, the introduction of much of the fine oak and pine furnishings and panelling seen in the church today, the white marble pedestal font, the pulpit and the careful insertion of new window openings and an organ chamber, to house an expensive new Norman & Beard pipe organ.

A very different style of music is provided by the historic bell housed in Cramond’s ancient bell tower. Cast in 1619 by noted Dutch bell founder Michael Burgerhuys, according to surviving kirk session records the bell was looted in 1651 by Cromwell’s forces during their occupation of Scotland during the War of Three Kingdoms. It was taken to Leith for onward shipping southwards with other war booty and it was not until 1658, after the intercession of local landowner Sir Alexander Hope, that the bell was returned to congregation of Cramond Kirk by General Monck, the commander of occupying army.

A wooden board on the west wall records the names of all of Cramond’s ministers since the Reformation. These include the Rev Robert Walker, minister from 1776-84, who was the subject of Sir Henry Raeburn’s famous “Skating Minister” painting, portraying the clergyman and noted abolitionist ice skating on Duddingston Loch. The iconic portrait now hangs in the Scottish National Gallery in the centre of the Edinburgh.

Other items of note that visitors to Cramond can see inside the church today include a beautiful coloured glass mosaic depicting Jock Howison, a local man who local tradition tells us saved King James V from robbers at Cramond Brig. The mosaic forms part part of a larger war memorial to the 105 local fallen of World War One that was designed and installed by noted Scottish artist Oscar Paterson in 1921. On the wall near the Cramond Gallery is a well-executed, 17th century, carved stone monument memorial to Sir James Hope, grandfather of Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun, for whom Hopetoun House was built, and on the gallery itself is located a small velvet covered chair used by Queen Victoria when she attended a service in the kirk in 1860. Almost all of the church’s windows contain decorative coloured glass, including three windows by Morris & Co, to designs by Edward Burne-Jones, another by the Abbey Studio and one by Alexander Strachan.

Located under the Cramond Gallery is the newest addition to the church, a small chapel crated in 2003 to provide an accessible and flexible space for use for more intimate services, such as weddings, funerals and baptisms. Its furniture was designed by elder Tom Gray and created by local craftsman Ben Dawson and its baptismal font and candle holders were made from polished Ailsa Craig granite. The chapel also provides a home for a Wyvern digital organ that was installed in the building in 1998.

The kirkyard outside contains a treasury of incredible 17th and 18th century gravestones, filled with memento mori symbols and a testament to the artistic skills of the stonemasons that made them, alongside a fine collection of later memorials, including an unusual large cast iron obelisk commemorating local blacksmith Andrew Reoch and his son, of the same name, an iron foundry owner. Next to the entrance to the graveyard is a little stone building designed by Basil Spence in 1932, while he was still a student, that was used by the Kirk as a counting house. Since 2014, it has been home to the Little Gatehouse Gallery.

One of the most recent additions to be seen outside is the kirk session house, which was added to the building in 1955, by architect Harry Wylie, to provide a meeting space for the elders who oversee the administration of the church. At less than a century old, its relative youth contrasts sharply in date with the excavated remains of the Roman fort that surround the kirkyard, highlighting the significance of this little Lothian village over the past two millennia.

In 2023, the congregations of Cramond Kirk and the Old Kirk and Muirhouse (now Pennywell Kirk) united to form the new parish of Edinburgh Northwest Kirk.

Services

Sundays: 8.45 and 10.00am

Opening Arrangements

Open by arrangement.

Disclaimer

The information about churches in Scotland’s Churches Scheme has been provided by the congregations or taken from the Historic Scotland list and published sources, in particular, the Buildings of Scotland volumes and the RIAS Illustrated Architectural Guides. To contact this specific church please complete the Contact this Church form above. The information is not authoritative; please contact Scotland’s Churches Trust to let us know of any errors or omissions.