St Mary Star of the Sea (Leith) Church is a

Roman 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 lette ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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, ...

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

, Scotland. It is situated on Constitution Street in the

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

district and staffed by the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

. The church was designed in 1854 by the architects E.W. Pugin and Joseph Hansom in the Gothic style. It is a Category B listed building.Edinburgh, Constitution Street, St Mary Star of the Sea RC Church Church
from British Listed Buildings, retrieved 23 October 2017 The Church has over 20 stained glass windows, and one of the side altars is dedicated to Mary Star of the Sea, the patron saint of Leith since the 12th Century.

Archaeology and History

Archaeological work carried out in advance of the construction of a new church hall in 2004 found the remains of the front of Balmerino House. That house was built in 1631 by John Stewart, Earl of Carrick, and sold to

Lord Balmerino The title of Lord Balmerino (or Balmerinoch) was a title in the Peerage of Scotland; it was created in 1606 and forfeited in 1746 on the attainder and execution of the 6th Lord Balmerino in the Tower of London. The title of Lord Coupar or Cupar w ...

in 1643. It remained in the Balmerio family until 1746 when the fifth Lord Balmerino died and then the Sixth Lord was executed for his part in the failed Jacobite rebellion. The house then changed hands several time until the Church purchased it in 1848. St Mary's Star of the Sea was built in 1853 and Balmerino House was finally demolished in the 1970s. There is some conflict over the date it was built - the church website says it was designed in 1854 but the historical records in Canmore state that it was opened in 1854. The archaeologists also found a small burial ground which predated the house. The human remains consisted of six adult males and date to between the early 16th and mid 17th centuries but before the house was built. It is thought that they may be part of the edge of the burial grounds from the South Leith parish church. The earliest feature uncovered on the site was a well containing 13th to 14th-century pottery. Of importance to the history of clay tobacco pipe manufacture in Scotland was a small assemblage of clay-pipe wasters and kiln waste that were found and dated to around 1630–40. Later excavations in 2006 found more remains of the Balmerio House. When the church was built it had no chancel, no north aisle and was orientated to the west. The north aisle was added in 1900 and the chancel in 1912, at that time the present west entrance was made.

Parish organisation

From 2017 the many parishes in Edinburgh have been organised into clusters to better coordinate their resources. St. Mary's is one of four parishes in Cluster 5 along with Holy Cross, St. Margaret Mary's and St. Margaret (DM). The parish is part of the Oblate Centre of Mission Edinburgh which also includes St John Olgilvie's Church in

Wester Hailes Wester Hailes is an area in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Wester Hailes borders on Kingsknowe and Longstone to the east. Bankhead Industrial Estate and Sighthill Park lie to the north. History Although named after a large private ho ...

and the priests of both parishes. File:St John Ogilvie Church, Wester Hailes, Edinburgh by Geograph 3988161.jpg, St John Ogilvie Church, Wester Hailes

Images

File:St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Leith.jpg File:R c church leith.jpg

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mary's Star of the Sea, Leith, Saint Listed churches in Edinburgh Roman Catholic churches in Edinburgh Listed Roman Catholic churches in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Roman Catholic churches in Scotland Roman Catholic churches completed in 1852 1847 establishments in Scotland Italianate architecture in Scotland E. W. Pugin church buildings Buildings and structures in Leith 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate churches in the United Kingdom Italianate church buildings in the United Kingdom Buildings by Joseph Hansom

Archaeology and History

Parish organisation

Images

See also

References

External links