St Albert's Catholic Chaplaincy is the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

chaplaincy A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intel ...

for the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. It started in 1931, when the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

moved into the house. It is located at 23 and 24

George Square George Square ( gd, Ceàrnag Sheòrais) is the principal civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, St Enoch Square, Royal Exchange S ...

, south of the city centre, and north of The Meadows. The original building is

category A listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland, which are among the listed buildings of the United Kingdom. For a fuller list, see the pages linked on List of listed buildings in Scotland. Key The organization of the lists in th ...

and the chapel, built in 2012, won an award for architectural excellence from the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

History

Foundation

The original building was designed in 1766. It was built between 1766 and 1779, as part of the construction of

. According to

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

, "George Square was the earliest, largest and most ambitious scheme of unified town planning attempted in Edinburgh to date."24 George Square, Edinburgh
from ''British Listed Buildings'', retrieved 3 May 2021 The building was designed by James Brown (1729-1807), brother of George Brown the Laird of Elliston and Lindsaylands, who the square is named after. The first resident at 23 George Square was Thomas Lockhart. During the nineteenth century Arthur Conan Doyle stayed there as a medical student and in the twentieth century,

Patrick Nuttgens Patrick John Nuttgens CBE (2 March 1930 – 15 March 2004) was an influential English architect and academic. Early life Nuttgens was born in Whiteleaf, Buckinghamshire, the fourth of five children to Kathleen Mary (''née'' Clarke) an Iri ...

resided there. 24 George Street, for many decades housed officers of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. In 1931 it was bought by the

, who were then invited to be the chaplains to the Catholic community at the

. The drawing room in the house was converted into the first chapel.

New chapel

In the 2000s, the chaplaincy needed a chapel with increased capacity. In July 2012, the new chapel, built in the garden, was completed and opened. It was the first new Dominican chapel in Scotland since the Reformation. It was designed by Stuart Allan, of the architectural firm Simpson & Brown. It has a capacity of 150 people and the window behind the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

has a clear view of the garden. In 2013, the new chapel received architectural awards and recognition from the

Scottish Civic Trust Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, the

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) is the professional body for architects in Scotland. History Previously the (lapsed) Architectural Institute of Scotland, it was re-founded in 1916 as the Incorporation of Architects in ...

, and the

.New chapel praised

, 5 April 2016, retrieved 3 May 2021

Chapel

St Albert's Chapel (8689008166).jpg, Window Chapel of St Albert the Great interior.jpg, Interior Chapel of St Albert the Great and rear of George Square Townhouses.jpg, Chapel and garden

References

External links