Church Overview

An unusual Victorian Gothic church, built for the Church of Scotland in 1876-78 by Scottish architect Henry Hardy as a “Chapel of Ease” for the use of the growing mining community of Newcraighall, using yellow and red bricks produced in the local brickworks.

After serving as a “preaching station” for eight years, Newcraighall Church was raised to the status of a quoad sacra parish in its own right in 1886. The congregation of the little brick church in the centre of this industrial working class community grew in the years that followed and funds were raised to introduce electric lighting, for the first time, and a complete interior redecoration ahead of its half century celebration in 1936.

As the local heavy industries closed and the neighbouring streets were cleared of residents and demolished in the 1970s and 1980s, numbers of attendees at the church rapidly declined. In 1987 its congregation united with nearby Richmond Craigmillar Church and in 1991 the building was closed and sold by the Church of Scotland and quickly thereafter converted into workshop and storage spaces thereafter.

After being closed for a number of years, planning permission was in place for the historic building to to be converted into several residential properties, before it was purchased, entirely refurbished and returned into church use once more . Now owned and operated by the Christian Wellsprings Community, an independent school operates from the ground floor and the congregation meets upstairs and in locations around Edinburgh and East Lothian.

Services

11am on the first Sunday of the month and at other times. Check church’s own website for details.

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.