The Tron Kirk is a former principal parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

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 Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It is a well-known landmark on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), de ...

. It was built in the 17th century and closed as a church in 1952. Having stood empty for over fifty years, it was used as a tourist information centre for several years in the mid 2000's and, more recently, was the site of the Edinburgh World Heritage Exhibition and John Kay’s book and gift shop. The name comes from the weighing beam ("tron" in Scots), serving the public market on the

, which stood outside until around 1800. It is the only Scottish church where five consecutive ministers each served at least once as

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states t ...

(eight if including second charge ministers).

Archaeology and pre-church history

Archaeological investigations, including excavations and 3D surveys, in 1974, 1983 and 2006 shed light on the area before the construction of the church in the 1630s. The results evidenced that the area was occupied by

tenements A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

before the church was built. It appears that they were built during the 15th and 16th centuries and wiped out all traces of earlier medieval settlements. Documentary research undertaken at the same time was able to provide a picture of the occupants of the buildings all the way back to the late 15th century. The church was built over: * Marlin’s Wynd * Peebles Wynd * Taverner's Close The church floor was removed in 1974 to allow the excavation of the entire floor area. This was retained as a piece of publicly visible urban archaeology until the building was refloored in 2004. The public could view the remnants of the basements, the paved closes, and drainage channels in a

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was burie ...

style, viewing from a walkway around the inner perimeter.

Religious history

The foundation stone was laid on 4 March 1637. The church was formally opened and dedicated to

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

by the citizens of Edinburgh in 1641, and known as "Christ's Kirk at the Tron". It was built for the South-East

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

, one of the four parishes of Edinburgh after 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. Prior to the erection of this new church, parishioners of the North-West parish worshipped in

St. Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended ...

. An English traveller, visiting the Tron in 1705, recorded his impression in his diary:—"The Nobility generally resort to the Tron Church, which is the principally (sic) and the Lord High Commissioner has a Throne erected in it, in a very spatious Gallery, on his right hand sits the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

, and on his left the Lord Provost of Edenborough." There were special grants of pews made by the Edinburgh Town Council to noblemen, Senators of the

College of Justice The College of Justice includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, an ...

, citizens of

Edinburgh Old Town The Old Town ( sco, Auld Toun) is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Scottish Reformation, Reformation-era buildings. Together w ...

, Principals and Professors of the University. A full list of seat-holders has been preserved for 1650, the year of the battle of Dunbar, and for 1745, when

Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

was in Edinburgh.

Ministers

*1641 to 1649 -

William Colvill William Colvill, sometimes spelt William Colville (c.1612–1675) was a 17th-century Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland and scholar and was the Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1662 to 1675. Life Colvill was educated ...

(d.1675) who had translated from Trinity College Church a quarter mile to the north-east *1648 to 1662 - Robert Laurie also translated from Trinity College Church *1663 to 1672 - John Paterson *1672 to 1675 - William Annan *1675 to 1680 - James Lundie, translated to

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: �t̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...

in 1680 *1681 - Robert Bruce, dismissed after a few months for refusing to take the Solemn Oath *1683 to 1687 - George Trotter MA (d.1687) *1687 to 1691 - Alexander Malcolm, went to England following a dispute and failed to return *1687 to 1692 - William Erskine MA *1695 to 1707 - William Crichton twice Moderator 1692 and 1697 *1707 to 1729 - William Wishart (d.1729) five times Moderator *1730 to 1785 -

George Wishart George Wishart (also Wisehart; c. 15131 March 1546) was a Scottish Protestant Reformer and one of the early Protestant martyrs burned at the stake as a heretic. George Wishart was the son of James and brother of Sir John of Pitarrow, ...

, son of preceding, Moderator in 1748, the church's longest serving minister *1786 to 1809 - Andrew Hunter of Barjarg (1743-1809) moderator in 1792 *1809 to 1845 - Rev Prof Alexander Brunton moderator in 1823 *1845 to 1867 - Rev Dr

Maxwell Nicholson Jonah Maxwell Nicholson (30 July 1818 – 30 December 1874) was a Scottish minister and author. Life He was born in Whithorn in south-west Scotland on 30 July 1818 He was the fourth of nine children of Mary Kirkpatrick and her husband, Rev Chr ...

DD *1868 to 1873 - Rev Dr James MacGregor DD *1874 to 1875 - John Barclay MA *1876 to 1881 - William Cruickshank Eddie Jamieson (1839-1881) *1881 to 1885 - John Methven Robertson *1885 to 1911 - David Morrison (1838-1911) *1902 to 1907 - Dugald Butler *1908 to ? - John Wallace

Second Charge

The church and congregation were of a scale which required a "second charge" for additional services: *1650 to 1655 - John Stirling MA translated to the newly built Lady Yester's Church *1663 to 1665 - James Lundie MA *1665 to 1676 -

Robert Mortimer Robert Cecil Mortimer (6 December 190211 September 1976) was an Anglican bishop in the Church of England. Mortimer was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford and Keble College in the same city. He was made deacon at Michaelmas 1926 (3 Oc ...

*1677 to 1682 - John Farquhar *1682 to 1683 - George Trotter moved to first charge (see above) *1683 to 1689 - John Strachan MA (d.1699) *1691 to 1709 - George Meldrum, twice Moderator 1698 and 1703, the first Second Charge to become Moderator *1710 to 1713 - John Steedman *1715 to 1741 - Matthew Wood *1745 to 1753 - William Wishart, Principal of

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

, Moderator in 1745 *1754 to 1766 - John Jardine (1715-1766) *1767 to 1788 - John Drysdale (1718-1788) twice Moderator in 1773 and 1784 *1789 to 1831 - William Simpson DD (1744-1831), 42 years service with Tron *1832 to 1860 - John Hunter DD (1788-1866) son of Rev Andrew Hunter first charge (see above) declined post of Moderator The second charge at Tron was abolished in 1860 due to the Annuity Tax Act.

Notable Events

The memoirist Elisabeth West worshipped here when William Erskine was the minister and he died in May 1692. Erskine's replacement was George Meldrum and he advised her to keep a record and her diary is an insight into the Tron's history. In 1697,

Thomas Aikenhead Thomas Aikenhead ( bapt. 28 March 1676 – 8 January 1697) was a Scottish student from Edinburgh, who was prosecuted and executed at the age of 20 on a charge of blasphemy under the Act against Blasphemy 1661 and Act against Blasphemy 1695. ...

, an 18-year-old student, became the last person in Scotland to be executed for the crime of blasphemy after a fellow student reported that he had blasphemed against God outside the Tron Kirk. Aikenhead was prosecuted for saying "I wish I were in that place Ezra calls hell so I could warm myself" as he walked by the kirk on his way back from a night of drinking with some classmates.Thomas Aikenhead
The baptisms and marriages of many Edinburgh luminaries took place in the Tron, one being the marriage of the famous jurist

John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, 2nd Baronet, Lord Fountainhall (baptised 2 August 1646 – 20 September 1722) was one of Scotland's leading jurists who remains to this day an oft consulted authority. He was knighted in 1680 and matriculated his ...

on 21 January 1669, to Janet (1652–1686), daughter of Sir Andrew Ramsay, Lord Abbotshall, 1st Baronet, and the first

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the ...

, and a Senator of the

(d.1688). On 25 April 1694 Helen (d. 9 January 1714), daughter of

George Ogilvy, 2nd Lord Banff George Ogilvy, 2nd Lord Banff (died March 1668) was member of the old Scottish Parliament, a feudal baron, and a Cavalier. Family The son of Sir George Ogilvy, 1st Lord Banff, and 1st Baronet (1627), by his spouse Janet, daughter of William S ...

(d.1668) by his spouse Agnes, daughter of Alexander 1st Lord Falconer, of Halkerstoun, married Sir Robert Lauder of Beilmouth in the Tron. Rev John Drysdale, who married Mary Adam, daughter of the famous architect William Adam, was a Minister of the Tron Kirk from 1766 to 1788 and was also twice

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

, though now he is chiefly remembered for his friendship with

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...

, the economist. The

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...

met in the Tron from 1830 to 1840—the period of the "Ten Years' Conflict".

Architectural history

The Tron, as it is commonly called, was ordered to be built by King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

when he decided that

St Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

' was to become the cathedral for the new see of Edinburgh. The land was purchased by the parish from Dr. William Scott, MD, for £1000 Scots. It was erected between 1636 and 1647 to a design by John Mylne, Royal master mason. The design mixed

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

elements and was inspired by contemporary Dutch architecture. The full Chamberlain's Accounts for this project are extant. The width of the building was reduced when both side aisles were removed in 1785 to accommodate the South Bridge and Blair Street leading to Hunter Square. In 1828 a new spire (designed by

R & R Dickson Richard and Robert Dickson (usually simply referred to as R & R Dickson) were brothers, acting as architects in Scotland in the early and mid-19th century. Whilst most of their work is typified by remote country houses they are best known for th ...

) was constructed to replace the original, destroyed in the

Great Edinburgh Fire The Great Fire of Edinburgh was one of the most destructive fires in the history of Edinburgh. It started on Monday, 15 November 1824, and lasted for five days, with two major phases. Sequence of events The fire broke out around 10pm on 15 N ...

of November 1824. The Tron closed as a church in 1952 and was acquired by the

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

, the congregation moving to a new church in the Moredun area of the city. The church was subsequently left to decay, and the interiors were eventually gutted. In 1974 archaeological excavations took place under the church which revealed foundations of 16th-century buildings from a long-vanished close, Marlins Wynd, named after a stonemason Walter Merlioun who lived there in 1500.

Hogmanay

Traditionally the Tron was a place of gathering to celebrate New Year, mainly because of its chiming clock, high on the spire, and visible (and audible) over a wide area. The Tron's position as the traditional focus of

Edinburgh's Hogmanay Edinburgh's Hogmanay is the observance of Hogmanay—the Scottish celebration of the New Year—held in Edinburgh, Scotland. History The annual Hogmanay celebration was originally an informal street party focused on the Tron Kirk in the High ...

celebrations has been greatly diminished in recent years, due to the expansion of the City Council's organised Hogmanay Street Party in the city centre. However, it was announced in November 2012 that this historic venue would re-stake its claim to the city's hogmanay celebrations, with a Festival of the Extraordinary planned to include live music, film screenings and, amongst other things, a mixology masterclass.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The Tron is also used as a venue during the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, when it has been operated by Just The Tonic and Freestival as a music, comedy and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

venue and cafe.

Edinburgh World Heritage at the Tron

Between 2018 and early 2020, the Tron Kirk hosted an exhibition which showcased the Edinburgh Old and New Towns UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

, as well as Scotland’s five other World Heritage Sites. The exhibition aimed to capture the essence of the World Heritage Site in Edinburgh through the voices and opinions of local people. The story was told in a series of videos, quotes, and specially commissioned portraits from the Scottish photographer Alicia Bruce. In Summer 2019, two retail outlets opened within the exhibition: John Kay's Shop, a gift shop specialising in Scottish gifts and books, historic prints and maps; and the Scottish Textiles Showcase.

Scottish Historic Buildings Trust

In May 2021, the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) announced plans to restore the building and give it "a new and meaningful lease of life". The SHBT is to conduct a feasibility study. Once funding has been secured, the SHBT will be granted a 125-year lease on the building. In June 2022, the SHBT announced that, from 1 July 2022, the building would be used on a short-term basis as a retail outlet by a

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

, Scottish Design Exchange.

References

* ''The Tron Kirk of Edinburgh'', by the Reverend D. Butler, MA, Minister of the Tron parish, Edinburgh, 1906. * ''The Buildings of Scotland - Edinburgh'', by Colin McWilliam, John Gifford, & David Walker,

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Edinburgh Hogmanay

{{Edinburgh Festival Fringe Religious buildings and structures completed in 1647 Churches in Edinburgh Royal Mile Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh 1647 in Scotland Hogmanay 1647 establishments in Scotland Former churches in Scotland Listed churches in Edinburgh