The Priory Church of St Mary of Mount Carmel, commonly called the Priory Church or St Mary's Episcopal Church, is a congregation of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

located in

South Queensferry Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is administered by the City of Edinburgh council area. It lies ten miles to the nort ...

, near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. The church building was constructed in the mid 15th century for the

Carmelite Order , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

. It served as the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the 16th and 17th centuries, but subsequently fell into disrepair. In 1890 it was restored and reopened by the Scottish Episcopal Church. It is now the only medieval Carmelite church still in use in the British Isles, and is a

category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

History

The Carmelite Friary at Queensferry was founded in 1330. The first known record dates from 1457, and is a grant of land from James Dundas of

Dundas Dundas may refer to: Places Australia * Dundas, New South Wales * Dundas, Queensland, a locality in the Somerset Region * Dundas, Tasmania * Dundas, Western Australia * Fort Dundas, a settlement in the Northern Territory 1824–1828 * Shire of ...

to the Carmelite order, for the purpose of building a monastery. Following the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...

of 1560, the Carmelite monastery returned to the ownership of the Dundas family, and the former Carmelite church was subsequently used as the parish church. In the 17th century a new parish church was constructed (now the Old Parish Church on The Vennel), and the congregation moved out of the Carmelite church in 1635. The building was put to a variety of uses until the late 19th century, and during this time its condition deteriorated. The monastic buildings were demolished, as was the nave in 1875. Architects Henry Seymour and

John Kinross John Kinross (3 July 1855 – 7 January 1931) was a Scottish architect. He was particularly skilled in traditional styles and was highly involved in the restoration of historic buildings, researching his subjects well before any project. Biogr ...

completed a restoration scheme in 1889, and the following year James Montgomery, Dean of Edinburgh, reconsecrated the building for the Scottish Episcopal Church. Further restoration and repair works were carried out in 2000.

The church building

The building comprises the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

, tower and south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

of the Carmelite church. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

lay to the west of the tower until demolished in 1875. In 1937 a small porch was added to the west of the tower. The former choir is used as the present nave, and the south transept is used as the

baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

. The tower was originally of three storeys Nothing remains of the other monastic buildings, thought to have been located to the north of the church, and no remains were recovered during archaeological digs in the 1970s.

References

External links

Priory Church website
*{{commonscat-inline Christian monasteries established in the 15th century Carmelite monasteries in Scotland Monasteries dissolved under the Scottish Reformation Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh Listed churches in Edinburgh 15th-century church buildings in Scotland Episcopal church buildings in Edinburgh Former Christian monasteries in Scotland